Rush for meat on first day after Saga Dawa
Meat stalls ran out of meat within hours
The meat shop is crowded. There were three people almost fighting for the last kilogram of pork. An outspoken woman gets the last kilo. The other two settles for fish and chicken.
There is only three pieces of fish on the table. A box of chicken is under the table. It will run out soon. “Don’t worry, beef will arrive soon,” says the vendor as he sees more people crowding his little shop. There are only a few fish and some chicken at a stall in Changzamtog. People are returning home.
The auspicious saga dawa (first month of the Bhutanese calendar) is over. Meat is back in town. So are the meat eaters. Meat started arriving in the capital as of yesterday evening and within hours most of them ran out of stock.
Bhutanese cannot live without meat. This is evident from the rush at the meat stalls yesterday. The animals- chicken, fish and pigs could have been slaughtered on Tuesday, on nam gang, the most auspicious day in a month. Bu this is not deterring people from rushing for meat.
A month without meat seems like a punishment from the way people are rushing to buy. “I am tired of eating vegetables,” says a policeman carrying a kilogram of pork. He couldn’t afford to stock meat. The little he dried ran out in a few days.
While the ban on import of meat during auspicious months is appreciated, people say it is shortening the lives of the animals. “Many people stock meat before the ban,” says a customer. “You go to any government dinner or private party, you will se meat items,” he says. “It is the poor who are affected.”
But he said that not eating meat on the auspicious months is good. “If we cannot do good things, at least not eating meat for a month is good,” he says. “The intention is good and will bring merit to the country and the people.”
Slaughterhouses, both within and outside will be busy for the next few days. Some of the meat came from within the country.
While there is an unofficial movement to discourage people from eating meat, scenes from the meat shops are not encouraging. A small vendor brought in two boxes of frozen chicken, one box of fish and a whole pig. It ran out within an hour.
Bhutan Today couldn’t get the latest import of meat figures, but Bhutan is the highest per capita meat consumer in South Asia, with about 13.5kg of meat per capita annually, according to department of livestock records.
In 2014, Bhutan imported 10,336MT (metric tonnes) of meat products worth Nu 1.37 billion from India and Thailand.
Meanwhile, at another meat stall, a woman is lucky. She gets the last kilogram of pork. The vendor satisfied with his two-hour business adds on the little pieces of meat on the weighing scale and says, “It is bonus for you madam.”
By 7:30 meat is sold out and the shop closes for the day. “Beef will arrive soon,” says the vendor as his hands, smeared with blood, counts the money.
Meat stalls ran out of meat within hours
The meat shop is crowded. There were three people almost fighting for the last kilogram of pork. An outspoken woman gets the last kilo. The other two settles for fish and chicken.
There is only three pieces of fish on the table. A box of chicken is under the table. It will run out soon. “Don’t worry, beef will arrive soon,” says the vendor as he sees more people crowding his little shop. There are only a few fish and some chicken at a stall in Changzamtog. People are returning home.
The auspicious saga dawa (first month of the Bhutanese calendar) is over. Meat is back in town. So are the meat eaters. Meat started arriving in the capital as of yesterday evening and within hours most of them ran out of stock.
Bhutanese cannot live without meat. This is evident from the rush at the meat stalls yesterday. The animals- chicken, fish and pigs could have been slaughtered on Tuesday, on nam gang, the most auspicious day in a month. Bu this is not deterring people from rushing for meat.
A month without meat seems like a punishment from the way people are rushing to buy. “I am tired of eating vegetables,” says a policeman carrying a kilogram of pork. He couldn’t afford to stock meat. The little he dried ran out in a few days.
While the ban on import of meat during auspicious months is appreciated, people say it is shortening the lives of the animals. “Many people stock meat before the ban,” says a customer. “You go to any government dinner or private party, you will se meat items,” he says. “It is the poor who are affected.”
But he said that not eating meat on the auspicious months is good. “If we cannot do good things, at least not eating meat for a month is good,” he says. “The intention is good and will bring merit to the country and the people.”
Slaughterhouses, both within and outside will be busy for the next few days. Some of the meat came from within the country.
While there is an unofficial movement to discourage people from eating meat, scenes from the meat shops are not encouraging. A small vendor brought in two boxes of frozen chicken, one box of fish and a whole pig. It ran out within an hour.
Bhutan Today couldn’t get the latest import of meat figures, but Bhutan is the highest per capita meat consumer in South Asia, with about 13.5kg of meat per capita annually, according to department of livestock records.
In 2014, Bhutan imported 10,336MT (metric tonnes) of meat products worth Nu 1.37 billion from India and Thailand.
Meanwhile, at another meat stall, a woman is lucky. She gets the last kilogram of pork. The vendor satisfied with his two-hour business adds on the little pieces of meat on the weighing scale and says, “It is bonus for you madam.”
By 7:30 meat is sold out and the shop closes for the day. “Beef will arrive soon,” says the vendor as his hands, smeared with blood, counts the money.
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