WEBVTT

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I have always been super fascinated
at humans ability to adapt.

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We are so good at holding onto
the things that make us,

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you know, who we are.

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But if there's anything 
that can throw a wrench at that idea

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is probably 2020.

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But you do have to admit,

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it is pretty awesome 
seeing people globally,

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just sort of figuring out
new ways to survive.

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Let's just take a second, as an example,
and we'll get Lebanon.

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But I'm going to warn you,

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If you're a vegetarian, 
this is probably going to be rough.

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CRISIS DIET

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(Matthew) <i>Since October 2019,</i>

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<i>Lebanon has been on the verge 
of economic collapse.</i>

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The revolution will happen!

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(Matthew) <i>For months, protesters filled
Beirut streets,</i>

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<i>demanding an end to the government
corruption they blame for inflation,</i>

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<i>soaring unemployment
and unaffordable food prices.</i>

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<i>The pandemic only made
the situation worse.</i>

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<i>Now, this crisis upon a crisis
is even changing</i>

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<i>the way Lebanese people eat.</i>

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(Marher) We need to start
slaughtering in a bit.

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(Matthew) How long have you
been doing this job?

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(Marher) I've been a butcher
since I was twelve years old.

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(Matthew) For the Lebanese people,
meat is very important in their diet.

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- (Maher) Of course.
- (Matthew) You eat a lot of meat.

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(Maher) We're very used to meat.
Let's say we have meat almos every day.

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The economy collapsed.

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So the people can't afford
to eat meat anymore.

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I'm one of the people 
in the butchery business

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who hasn't had sheep in a month.

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(Matthew) Really?

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(Maher) It used to be 
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday,

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I sell three to four lambs every week.

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Then we started bringing two, then one.

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Then I stopped bringing it altogether.

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It's too expensive
and doesn't sell enough.

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(Matthew) <i>Anxiety about money 
has never been higher,</i>

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<i>meaning for many Lebanese,
meat is now only for special occasions.</i>

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<i>Like today,</i>

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<i>when Muslims are preparing
to celebrate Eid al-Adha,</i>

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<i>the feast of the sacrifice.</i>

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(Maher) Praised be to Allah, 
who allowed butchering.

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Allah is the greatest.

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(Matthew) <i>Traditionally, 
that sacrifice is a sheep,</i>

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<i>butchered based on Islamic law
to be halal.</i>

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For outside the butcher shop,

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these guys try to make a run for it,

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but, unluckily for them, they were caught.

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(Matthew) You slaughter it like that
to make it [permissible,] right?

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(Maher) It's all [permissible.]

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You say, "In the name of Allah,"
to express the good intentions

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of the person making the sacrifice.

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(Matthew) Is it still alive?

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(Maher) Five minutes. OK.

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(Matthew) I'm going to become vegetarian.

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(Maher) Yes, the sight of blood...

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But it's normal.

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(Matthew) But it's a good thing
that one eats meat

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knowing where it comes from.

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This is it.

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This is the filet.

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(Matthew) <i>Families like the Rida, 
who can still afford a lamb for the holiday,</i>

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<i>are paying double
what they did for sheep last year.</i>

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- Hello.
- Hi, how are you?

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- Now it's all here.
- All of it is in the bags.

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We will distribute all of these now.

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The family that butchered the sheep
takes a ration.

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Some for their relatives
and the rest for the poor.

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(Matthew) So you've changed 
the way you cook

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because of the economic situation?

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(Tharwat) Sure.

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We started eating more vegetables,
which is healthier.

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- We saw this lamb this morning.
- Yeah.

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It was moving.

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Yeah, it was alive.

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Yummy. It's delicious.

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How's your Eid this year?

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There's no Eid this year.
We haven't felt it.

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- Why?
- I mean,

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- because of the situation.
- There's no happiness or joy.

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(Matthew) <i>A 100% increase 
in the poverty rate</i>

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<i>means life is changed for most in Beirut.</i>

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(Chef Antoine) Hello.

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(Matthew) <i>Even for Antoine El Hajj,</i>

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<i>a celebrity chef who's hosted his own 
daily cooking show</i>

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<i>for the last 30 years.</i>

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Yeah, and actually just go to
my worry analogies will carry

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me to do, people carry in

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our body,

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but they can additionally it will match
back to live. Nearly had to look around

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and let me yeah. Headquarter
on Olivia. I'm sorry.

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It going bye-bye.

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Lebanon's, dire situation
got even worse in August.

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When a massive explosion in
Beirut killed more than 190 people

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caused billions of
dollars in property damage

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and destroyed the country's largest port.

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Lebanon, had depended on that
port to bring an 80% of its food

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that Reliance on imported food had already
driven some people to find Solutions

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Beyond just switching
their diets. I'm going like

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I think more than 100 types of
foods such as trees, avocados.

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Mongo's,

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Carrie Manhattan was a cafe on her Beirut

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before closing up his shop
and returning to his hometown.

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My decision to come back was.

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Merely for just security.

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I found that really futile to try to seek

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a flow of income

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so I can use that and
come and spend it on food

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while I can actually just grow my own.

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So here's my lab, that's a sample
of the things we process in stock.

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I Clans cucumbers and
matter because some herbes.

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I don't believe a lot
of people are content.

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They're not satisfied. And they want
to continue affording meat and chicken

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almost on a daily basis, which is
so unhealthy and it's abnormal.

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The system is setting us up for
failure and they're stretching it out

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as much as possible. They're
milking us to the last penny.

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I really fear for the future. I don't
think we have a bright future coming.

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You don't have a choice either. You
sit and you fight or just migrate live.