Mooneh thrives to become a source of livelihood for many households

In its edition of today, Al Diyar spotlighted the traditional mooneh which recorded a powerful comeback amid the financial crisis in the country, especially with many Lebanese households becoming dependent on it for subsistence. After a fierce struggle against dominant consumption pattern, traditional mooneh today has become a popular hashtag on social media platforms with rapidly increasing accounts for families seeking to sell home-made items from various Lebanese regions, mainly from Akkar, the South and Bekaa. In this respect, Al Diyar cited the story of “Umm Elias” who created an account for marketing mooneh brands. It began in 2011 when Umm Elias and her family embarked on preparing mooneh and promoting them via social media sites which contributed to a significant increase in sales, as she boasted. Umm Elias revealed that the tradition of making mooneh is increasingly becoming profit-generating and a source of income for households. Work is divided equally among family members, and this includes planting, preparing mooneh foods and managing social media accounts, she explained. Al Diyar also highlighted the story of “Umm Samir” who used to prepared mooneh provisions for house consumption despite the objection from her children for that matter. But with the skyrocketing prices and the shortages of many merchandise, her children gave her a boost helping her out, and she started to sell online contributing to the household expenses. (Al Diyar, November 13, 2020)