Never Give Up: Citizens Find Local Solutions Amid Food Crisis

Lebanon has had a long tradition of importing most of its food, but the ongoing economic crisis has taught citizens to reinvent their gastronomic practices, promote local products, and limit waste.

“I thought about leaving the country but then I looked at the land and knew that we had the know-how,” says Yara Nader, who left her catering job in favor of launching her own line selling local products to buyers abroad. “I thought, it’s all right here. It’s possible, even in this difficult situation.”

With purchases of foreign-made goods have crashed by more than 40% in 2020 from the previous year, local and sustainable alternatives are now needed, encouraged, and promoted. One local initiative, for example, is TinwZeytoun, a sustainable plant nursery that doesn’t rely on pesticides, fertilizers, or foreign seeds, but rather native ones that are specially adapted to the country’s climate. Culinary traditions are also put to the forefront, with “a clear zero-waste philosophy”, according to Sari Majdalani, head chef of the upscale restaurant Ammoula, where clients enjoy preserved local sardines on toasted sourdough instead of tuna steak or lobster, for example.