Lebanese cook over wood as high gas prices persist
Desperation is one of the few commodities Lebanon does not lack as the financial burden of securing necessities such as cooking gas grows heavier.
As a mother of six children, Um Rami Farahat, who lives in a remote village in Bekaa, told Al-Monitor how she switched from a gas cooker to a wood stove to save money.
“We use it to cook and heat food, to heat water for baths, and even to wash clothes manually,” Farahat said. “It is located in the corner of our land adjacent to our house.” Um Rami prepares the dough for bread in the evening and wakes up at dawn to bake it in the more affordable wood stove.
In most Lebanese regions, wood stoves are making a comeback, taking people back decades and years, and a growing number of people are ditching cooking gas and building outdoor stoves suitable for wood. In addition to villages, the trend is even becoming noticeable in some dense neighborhoods for preparing food and heating shower water.
The cost of commercial wood has also risen, leading people to cut down trees in forests and near their homes. Agriculture experts say that Lebanon’s woodlands are at risk and the situation is spiraling out of control as oak, cedar, lemon, and walnut trees continue to disappear in anticipation of the coming winter.
