The people of Lebanon are giving up meat. It’s not part of a new fad diet, but the consequence of the country’s crippling economic crisis
In this file photo taken on January 24, 2019 a cat stares at meat hanging in a fridge window of a butcher’s shop in Lebanon’s capital Beirut. AFP
The people of Lebanon are giving up meat. It’s not part of a new fad diet, but the consequence of the country’s crippling economic crisis.
Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis that the World Bank says is of a scale usually associated with full-scale wars.
According to AFP, the currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value on the black market, more than 80 percent of the population lives in poverty, and prices have skyrocketed.
Let’s take a look at how the economic crisis has affected the meat market and the consumer:
Lebanon’s economic crisis
Lebanon has been reeling under the effects of a crippling economic crisis since 2019, and with the Russia-Ukraine conflict raging in the region, a large segment of the population has been pushed to poverty.
Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati recently said that the talks between his government and the International Monetary Fund over an economic recovery plan should make progress in the next two weeks.
Mikati said Lebanon’s economic meltdown, described by the World Bank as one of the worst the world has witnessed since the 1850s, has been made worse by the war in Ukraine.
Lebanon’s economic crisis that began in October 2019 has left three-quarters of the population of 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees, in poverty. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 per cent of its value.
Impact on the meat market
According to the AFP report, red meat has become a luxury item in the country as people are opting for poultry or grain as a cheaper alternative.
Chicken is almost three times cheaper than beef and sells at around 120,000 pounds ($5) a kilo.
The demand for red meat has plummeted since the government lifted subsidies on certain food imports in March 2021, Fahed said.
The price of imported red meat has increased five-fold, with some cuts costing more than the monthly minimum wage of 675,000 Lebanese pounds ($33).
Sales have dropped by around 70 per cent in large supermarkets and the decline is even steeper in popular markets frequented by people with low incomes, the report said.
As a result, dietary habits have changed and plant-based dishes, a popular part of Lebanon’s Mediterranean cuisine, are now a main course in many households.
Nancy Awada, a food inspector working with the Beirut municipality, has noticed a change in supply.
“The quantities of meat stored in a butcher’s refrigerator… today are a quarter or a third of what they used to be,” she said, as quoted by AFP.
“Instead of slaughtering two or three calves a day, butchers make do with only one.”
Due to the ongoing armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Lebanon’s fuel imports have also been hit, and the cash-strapped government is struggling to afford fuel imports to feed its power plants.
Power outages in most parts of the country are lasting up to 22 hours a day, making it even more difficult for sellers to store meat.
A spike in transport costs due to the lifting of fuel subsidies last year has also raised the overall meat bill, meat importer Imad Harouk of the Fed Distribution company told AFP.
Adjusting to demand, importers have sized down on stocks.
“Lebanon used to import 70 containers of frozen meat every month, but now the number is nearly 40,” Harouk said.
Tony al-Rami, head of the restaurant owners’ union, said inflation has altered ordering habits even in cheap fast-food chains.
“Demand has dropped for meat shawarma sandwiches, with consumers leaning more towards chicken,” he said.
With inputs from agencies
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