The Meat Boycott in Egypt: A call to Action

Several Facebook groups, television programs, and journalists have issued a call to action. Opposing soaring red meat prices in Egypt is now definitely a necessity. Meat prices have increased 25% in the past month!!! And of course, this is expected to continue if the vicious cycle is not broken somewhere. Our precious Minister of Agriculture came up with the ingenious idea of importing more 'frozen' meat, and some more 'live' cattle (hope they don't turn out diseases like the batch we got last year!!) In my humble opinion, the government-has-to-solve-everything mentality has to be challenged here.


There is truly a chance for the citizen sector to be mobilized into doing something that will be VERY effective. For the skeptics, I invite you to  let market mechanics , i.e. supply and demand , regulate the price. If no one's buying, prices WILL go down.

Boycotting meat goes beyond market mechanics. It sends a message to the butchers/cattle raisers/whoever-is-responsible that we, the Egyptian people, are NOT going to take anymore of their crap. They can't live withour us buying meat, but we can live without eating meat, This message is EXTREMELY crucial.  We , the consumers, are going to stand up for our rights.

I found this great link on the boycott meat Facebook group. It tells the story of a triumphal  meat boycott in Amman. It was organized by the Consumer Protection Society and they achieved what they were set out to do: meat prices went down.

So, in a nutshell, what's the deal......

• GOAL:  1.Reduce Meat prices.
                2.Show them who's the boss (the consumers).
• HOW:    Boycott fresh and frozen meat.
• BEST CASE SCENARIO: meat prices will go down.
• WORST CASE SCENARIO:  meat prices will stay the same, but you will be much healthier without all the red meat you usually eat!!!! After all, 3 oz (85 gm)of beef  gives you around 300 calories vs. 120 for a much healthier (lower in cholestrol) chicken breast.

See, it's all good!
So why don't you hop on the meat boycott wagon in Egypt?

My Girl From Face book: Meg Ryan From Egypt

We spend a lot of time looking for inspiration, for some hope, for some potential reason to keep us smiling and looking forward for the future.
Well, I found mine today.
A delightful, sweet, optimistic, passionate person contacted me through Face book, and we shared dreams about a public library in Sheikh Zayed.
A place where kids can read and adults can borrow books. "The Shop Around The Corner, you know, like in Meg Ryan's you've got mail." She said to me; honestly, how sweet is that !
I loved her community spirit, her will, and her oozing enthusiasm.
Such a dreamer she is! And I'm just mad about dreamers.
I don't come across many nowadays,  ever since I grew up and became an adult. When I was 18, life seemed like a perpetual series of hopes and dreams, to me and everyone around me.
I thought that this spirit was lost in time… so glad I found another dreamerJJ

Copy me this, Copy me that

Aaaaaahh! You poor saps!
Lacking imagination and creative power is really plaguing the Egyptian society. And that is why we have 'trends' that wax and wane in almost EVERYTHING: baby names (you have generations that are called Sara, Dina, Imane and Rasha, now it's Yussef, Loujy, and Malak), going to university (for some time the 'it' thing was 'seyaha w fenade2' (ie. Tourism and Hotel services) to be replaced years later by 'tegara English' and '7o2ou2 English' (commerce and law schools—English department), and of course shops and businesses.
Back in the eighties, you had a video rental shop at EVERY corner. It starts by some random guy starting the business, it's a success, so about 10 or 20 other guys in the neighborhood say : ' yeah, what the heck! If it worked for him, it is bound to make me rich too!!' so in a matter of a few months, you have a street with 5 rent-a-video shops on it and no supermarkets! This was later replaced by Net Cafés, and then by playstation venues, and of course mobile (Cell Phone) shops!!The funny thing is it is always the SAME shop-owners that keep changing activities, always on the look-out for the next hip-and-happening thing.
I check-out a few cool businesses on Face Book; gift-making and the like. Well, I am sure that within a few months many people will have 'borrowed' the idea and didn't think of particularly adding any new twist to it.
Honestly, people, GET A LIFE!!!!!!

"Do I know you?"

Everybody is on Facebook now, even my own mama!
This has odd social ramifications that many people are yet to realize.

So you keep adding friends, sending gifts and exchanging superpokes, matching up with them on various quizzes--some not so innocent might I add!

But are they REALLY your friends?

Looking at the hypothetical situation where there is this person that you 'know' on facebook ,a friend of a friend of a friend.  You fertilize their crop on FarmVille, you are a 99% match on movie quizzes, you frequently engage in Vampire fights...etc.
You know their birthday, their work history, their relationship status and even where they spent their vacation!
And one day you see them in a party. What do you do? 
Do you just go:'Hiiiii!! it's me, u know, from facebook?!' or do you pretendthat you've never seen them before?

Awkward , isn't it?