Food security in Lebanon was already a bit wonky, with almost 40% estimated to be living in poverty in the poorest northern cities even before the revolution. Then came the pandemic and currency collapse. Now the government estimates 75% of people need aid in the financially beleaguered little country.
Lebanon is hungry and the Lebanese are doing what they usually do. Working out ways to sort issues themselves when the government is unwilling or unable to address the basics. They did it with recycling, they do it with community policing, citizens have even taken it upon themselves to set up healthcare and educational facilities. Now they are doing it with food.
So far an influx of international funding from Lebanese diaspora and Iran has meant that food distributions have continued. With the collapse of the Lebanese pound, it now costs over four times what it did in January to feed a family. And the strain is beginning to show.