Home made mooneh in the south can no longer relies on local production thus the hike in costs

Southern housewives have nearly completed the annual preparation of the home made traditional mooneh for their families, mainly consisting of wheat, burghul, frik, lentils, beans, chickpeas, lima beans, cowpeas, okra, and green peas, As Safir reported today. Among other stocked household items, the newspaper cited,  are the famous zaatar (thyme), jews’ mallow, sesame, mixed herbs, delicacies prepared from fruits and veggies, like pickles, namely eggplant, as well as olives, grape leaves and dairy products, such as labneh, keshk, cheeses and all kinds of preserves and jams made from apricots, pomegranates, pumpkins, figs, quince and tomato paste. In the Nabatiyeh area, As Safir went on to say, housewives regretfully no longer can rely in the preparation of their mooneh on local vegetable and fruit production due to the waning agricultural activity in the neighboring towns and villages, the scarcity in water for irrigation, which is coupled by high production costs incurred by farmers. In this respect, the head of the Cooperative Association for the Production and Processing of Agricultural Products in Aramta, Mona Sabra expressed her regret that most food products in markets today are processed from “perishable chemical induced agriculture that has no taste or flavor”, as she puts it, recollecting the times when “everything was naturally made from locally grown crops or grazed livestock.” (As Safir, October, 5, 2015)