By David Mac Dougall

Iraqis are feeling the squeeze of food price rises which affect consumers all round the world. This week, we got local camera crews to shoot video and interview people in two different cities: Mosul in the north, and Karbala in the south.

So often the video you see on TV from Iraq is gray and not very colorful: whether it’s buildings, or military uniforms or the aftermath of some terrible bomb attack. However, the video from the markets is lively and colorful, and hopefully shows you how much vibrant life there is here.

Something I didn’t get the chance to mention in my story for TV: each Iraqi gets monthly rations from the Government. Since so many millions of people here live in poverty, they receive essentials like cooking oil, flour, powdered milk, beans and rice. Unfortunately, since January, the Government has only been able to provide a few items from the list (bars of soap, washing powder, rice & sugar) and so people have to buy more with their incomes. One thing that’s going up in price: cooking oil.

I’m told that’s because the cheapest vegetables are the ones Iraqis like to deep fry (eggplant and potatoes) and since they’re buying more of the cheapest food, they need more vegetable oil to cook with.