Hungry Zimbabweans turn to pet food as country goes to the dogs
By Lance Guma
04 December 2006
The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) reports that Zimbabweans are queuing up at meat suppliers and abattoirs to buy food meant for pets. With the price of beef now beyond the reach of many, pet food is proving popular among poor families. Pigskin and discarded fat from beef is also said to be selling well in working class suburbs. Many families are surviving on boiled vegetables and any form of meat is said to be better than nothing.
Beef now costs anything between Z$4000-Z$6000 per kg but pet food which normally uses meat by-products is significantly more affordable. The IWPR reports sates that, ‘ A 500-gram packet of branded pet food costs around Z$1250 and a kilogram of “meat sawdust” which contains meat gristle and bone and is sold as dog meat by abattoirs costs Z$1200.’ People who cannot afford pet food are resorting to flavouring their boiled vegetables with animal fat drawn from either beef or pork.
Colcom Foods, one of the largest pork producers in the country, is besieged by long queues of customers lining up at the pet food department. One woman interviewed by IWPR said pet food was, ‘perfectly edible’ for human beings and that it tasted like mince meat and was very tasty. Although she conceded it was not ideal she said at least this gave them the necessary proteins they were lacking from their otherwise vegetarian diets.
One other resident said, ‘At my house we call the pet food ‘minced meat’ because I don't want my children growing up knowing that they had been reduced to the level of a dog. It kills their spirit. To us pet food is a relish we look forward to. It gives us the feeling of the old days when we had chicken and rice at Christmas.’ Abattoirs who were interviewed said meat sawdust, ‘is the fastest selling product and can only be found before 10am , because housewives queue up early to make sure they get some.’
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