Concerns over food safety forces Southern Lebanese families back to the land

Al-Diyyar newspaper published a report on the wild plants of South Lebanon and the reverse movement to land and its resources after widespread contamination and corruption of food safety. According to the newspaper, the southern fields compensated well this year weed lovers after last year’s draught. Popular wild plants include “assaifi, duraira, baqra, hibiscus, fennel, wild cabbage, evergreen senoura and humaidah”. Women villagers, who look forward to the blooming “saliq” (wild plant) season, use these plants as essential ingredients in their traditional meals. The “baqleh” (watercress) for example, is a main Nabatiyeh dish prepared with onions, cracked wheat (burghul) and olive oil. Another delicacy of the southern village is “al assoura”, which is a mix of wild alat herb and humaidah fried with olive oil and onions. To note, that gathering wild herbs is not confined to women only. Men also join in. There has been an increasing demand on “saliq” after people cut down on consuming vegetables like tomatoes and zucchini mostly treated with toxic pesticides.  

In a similar note, a “saliq” lover, Muhamad Qarqoor, said: “the watercress baqleh is widely popular among our generation, unlike the young people who prefer fast food, namely chicken and meat. However, he stressed the importance and noted a growing back-to-roots movement in the country.

(Source: Al-Diyyar, February 3, 2015)