Food prepared in one’s home is a delicacy every Nigerian family looks forward to. Many believe it creates love, bonds and cherished memories in family members.
A Nigerian family is incomplete without homely food.
However, the continuous rise in foodstuff prices is slowly erasing this tradition, as many households now run to ‘Mama Put’ (local food vendors) for survival.
Economy&Lifestyle findings revealed that most households now buy food from mama puts for consumption.
These local food vendors also allow installment payments for food. That’s buying on credit and paying later, which many households have embraced.
Mr. Titus Mayokun, a driver, said he has a food vendor, where his family buys food on credit and pays every two weeks.
“My family and I have a particular food vendor we patronise.
“Whenever my kids are hungry they go there on week days and I pay her every two weeks.
“On weekends, we do some cooking that lasts till Monday.
“I spend nothing less than N150,000 for cooking in two weeks.
“But when we decided to patronise more of mama puts, I hardly spend between N50,000 to N60,000 in two weeks on feeding.
“It is not something one should be proud of doing but it’s the hairs on the fowl that make people think it is not sweating.
“The economy is dealing with every household. You don’t need to explain any action of yours now because everyone is feeling the heat one way or the other.”
Mrs. Damilola James, a trader, said buying food saves cost more than cooking daily, citing the high cost of food items and cooking gas.
“Buying cooked food now pays more than cooking daily.
“My kids don’t eat much. With N1,500 I have fed the three of them.
“In some afternoons they eat snacks or soak garri.
“Then at night we get food depending on whatever we like to eat.
“I cook twice on weekdays and that is maybe in the afternoon or night.
“If I don’t make these changes the cost of feeding will finish our income and we will be left with nothing to pay other bills.
“I used to tell my children that the country is not smiling and we need to manage in order to survive and send them to school.
“Once in a while, I give them a treat by taking them out to eat in order to feel loved but I always let them know it is not an everyday thing.
“If you look at the cost of feeding last year compared to this year, it has tripled. If you go to the market, foodstuffs like rice, garri, beans, yam, and bread are very expensive.
“Then cooking gas which is N1,400 per kilogramme.
“There’s nothing N50 can buy in the market anymore.
“As at last year you could get pepper of N50 to N100. But now, it costs N500. If you can’t afford it, leave it.”
“But when we decided to patronise more of mama puts, I hardly spend between N50,000 to N60,000 in two weeks on feeding.
“It is not something one should be proud of doing but it’s the hairs on the fowl that make people think it is not sweating.
“The economy is dealing with every household. You don’t need to explain any action of yours now because everyone is feeling the heat one way or the other.”
Mrs. Damilola James, a trader, said buying food saves cost more than cooking daily, citing the high cost of food items and cooking gas.
“Buying cooked food now pays more than cooking daily.
“My kids don’t eat much. With N1,500 I have fed the three of them.
“In some afternoons they eat snacks or soak garri.
“Then at night we get food depending on whatever we like to eat.
“I cook twice on weekdays and that is maybe in the afternoon or night.
“If I don’t make these changes the cost of feeding will finish our income and we will be left with nothing to pay other bills.
“I used to tell my children that the country is not smiling and we need to manage in order to survive and send them to school.
“Once in a while, I give them a treat by taking them out to eat in order to feel loved but I always let them know it is not an everyday thing.
“If you look at the cost of feeding last year compared to this year, it has tripled. If you go to the market, foodstuffs like rice, garri, beans, yam, and bread are very expensive.
“Then cooking gas which is N1,400 per kilogramme.
“There’s nothing N50 can buy in the market anymore.
“As at last year you could get pepper of N50 to N100. But now, it costs N500. If you can’t afford it, leave it.”
NBS data
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Food Price Watch Report for July the prices of food items like beans, tomatoes, yam among others rose year-on-year by over 200 percent.
Mrs. Edebor Dorathy, an accountant said: “ I only cook once or twice on weekdays and on weekends especially Sundays because I know you can hardly get food from mama put on such days.
“Every other day my family and I eat outside.
“It is not a joke for a family of five to always eat home-cooked food today.
“Any household doing such, the man of such household should be praised.
“You cannot cook a meal of N3,000 for a family of five in a day.
“The least you can spend is N5,000 and such might not be enough for three square meals.
“Whenever I buy food from Mama Put, I hardly spend N5,000 a day because my husband and myself skip breakfast and my children go for three square meals.
“There are no increments in salaries. Businesses are struggling. Rents and other bills are increasing.
“There are some jobs that give no room for second business.
“We have to make do with what we have and also cut costs because feeding now takes over half of our income in Nigeria followed by transportation.”
Mr Felix Ude, a bachelor and an architect said he buys food from Mama Put and has abandoned his cooking gas cylinder and pots till further notice.
“I love cooking a lot. It is one thing my friends look forward to when they visit me.
“But recently, I decided to abandon my gas cylinder and cooking pots because almost all my income is going into cooking food.
“I tried mama put’ and saw that it pays me and enables me to save for other bills.
“Daily I spend N1,800 compared to cooking at home which I spend up to N6,000 daily and the food will not even serve you for two days.
“Now, you need to discipline yourself on the aspect of food consumption to be able to meet up with other necessities.”
