Does a kilo of snails really cost less than a kilo of meat? This is what Associated Press Confirme in a recent article, presenting gastropods as an economic alternative to red meat in Tunisia and entitled “In Tunisia, Snail Inch Toward Replacing Red Meat as People Turn to Cheaper Protein”. But to look more closely, this conclusion is simply false.
In the Tunisian markets, the kilo of snails is negotiated at around 25 dinars for the Helix Aspersa snails. A figure much lower than 55 dinars required for a kilo of beef. The case seems to be heard? Not so fast. We contacted Achraf Saadi, CEO of Esc’rome, a social social company specializing in breeding and enhancement of snails.
What the American agency forgets to specify is that this price includes the shell, which represents almost 80 % of the total weight, not to mention the stages of decorating, networking and boxing. Result: to obtain a kilo of snail flesh, you must buy almost five kilos of whole snails. The addition then climbs up to 250 dinars, five times the price of red meat, specifies Achraf Saadi.
And this is not the only mistake. AP supposes that the snail directly replaces the meat in the diet of the Tunisians. However, snails are not a substitute, but a complementary food, often consumed in soup or stew.
Worse still, nutritionally, a kilo of beef brings about 2,500 calories, against only 800 for snail flesh. The idea of a direct replacement is therefore as absurd as comparing a steak with a handful of shrimp.
So why did AP made such an error? Because she wanted to see in the Tunisian crisis a simplistic story: that of a people forced to fall back on snails for lack of meat.
But the reality is more bitter: if snails gain ground, it is not because they are affordable, but because red meat becomes unaffordable. Far from being a solution, they are the symptom of an economy where each penny is counted … until she tracks down gastropods in the fields.
