Certainly the local demand on meats is limited to those who are kind of rich where the rate of those people in the war that the Syrians are living, is few in comparison with the majority of consumers who are so desperate to provide their daily living where it becomes a burden due to the high prices and the high rate of dollar exchange with the Syrian pound.
Abo Maher- aged 54- from Aleppo countryside told us in a speech with us about the expensiveness of meats:” For nearly two years, I have not bought meat; I am a simple worker in a construction workshop after I lost my dressmaking workshop as bombardment targeted it.. the thing drove me to look for another source of living ; I earn my living day by day only”.
Red meats turn to be one of the rare foodstuff that can be found on the menu of the Syrian people; meat becomes something of the past because of its high prices.
According to the grandmother “Om Mohammad” from Idlib rural, who revealed to us in her speech that was filled with grieve for remembering the old days; she said: “I no longer prepare Mahashy (vegetables with rice and meat) and Kebbeh ( groats with meat); lamb fat with its delicious smell used to fill my kitchen whenever I cooked. I used to prepare grapes leaves with steaks and fat that gave the amazing taste; however, with the difficult circumstances we are going through the time war, we prepare most the dishes made with meat, with frozen meat imported from Turkey for being cheaper”.
The grandmother Om Mohammad’s condition is just like many Syrians who war has made them unable to afford red meats replacing them with the Turkish chicken and imported meat that is not tasty.
We are all aware of the factors of livestock retreat in Syria, besides the suffocating siege forced on agricultural lands witnessing battles at the time of shortage in vaccines and veterinary care which negatively affect livestock leading to high prices.
Abo Murad is a butcher who every day goes to his shop to sell lamb meet; he told us about his suffering: “I used to slay 3 or 4 lambs a day; but now I slay one lamb hoping to sell all the meat by the end of the day without being forced to use the freezer which need electricity generators.. this can cause me spoilage rather than profit”.
Maybe the Syrian citizen has to abandon the old traditions regarding most life aspects; as if the daily bombardment at day and night were not enough; the Syrian people becomes facing diseases caused by imported meats that can be rotten as some merchants make use of the people’s need.
By Bayan Alahamd
Translated by Sabah Najem
Syrian Press Center
