Ramadan is a time where food is in abundance in the UAE. Iftar buffets in every restaurant in the UAE are made up of staggering amounts of dishes — much of which it makes it to the plate but not to the palate. The unused food is dumped — to be thrown into landfills later.
In Dubai alone, Dubai Municipality’s waste management department estimates that in non-Ramadan days, food waste is nearly 38 per cent daily and during Ramadan the number climbs to 55 per cent. This means that more than half of what is cooked is thrown away. In a month which denotes moderation and self-introspection, we are actually more greedy and wasteful. Is it ethical or even viable for anyone to waste so much food at a time when according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), more than 870 million people go without food each day?
In numbers
Globally, numbers relating to food waste are not very comforting either. The FAO points to a global wastage of nearly 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year. The social, environmental and economic cost of unused food, which uses up land, water and manpower resources is monumental.
According to annual statistics provided by the FAO, the carbon footprint of food produced and not eaten is estimated at 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases. The blue water footprint (consumption of surface and groundwater resources) of food waste is about 250 cubic kilometres, which equals to a few times the volume of some big lakes. Produced but uneaten food occupies close to 1.4 billion hectares of land, representing 30 per cent of the world’s agricultural land area. 54 per cent of food waste occurs during production, post-harvest handling and storage, and 46 per cent of it happens after the processing, distribution and consumption stages. The direct economic impact runs to about $750 billion (Dh2,754 billion) annually.
For the UAE, this wastage has a far greater meaning as the food import bill is high. Denisa Fainis, a UAE resident who is working on her own project to supply unused food from restaurants to workers’ accommodation says: “Dubai is one of the largest and most important centres of global trade, food imports make up to close to 90 per cent of what we eat, but that number varies every year. The UAE depends on importers, especially since the population is increasing and tourism will be doubled by 2020. Local production and imports is not coping with the population growth. Imports are going to increase. GCC food imports are estimated to reach $53 billion by 2020, with only one per cent of the GCC land arable. With these numbers in mind, we cannot afford to waste any food.”
Taking individual responsibility
Every year, environment and sustainability groups initiate awareness campaigns during Ramadan to educate people, families and restaurant owners to think twice before throwing food away. Says Fainis: “Every individual needs to take ownership and remember that food waste begins at home. Grocery shopping is hectic during Ramadan. Local residents are accustomed to cooking and sending food to their family members and friends with no actual time to redistribute it or eat it all. The same goes for the hospitality sector and restaurants, who would rather have more food cooked just to make sure there’s enough. There’s a moral responsibility to plan better and have a system that control the leftovers. Have the proper protocols, and standards in place, to utilise all of the raw food before it goes bad and have the right monitoring tools and equipment to store both raw food and cooked food before and during serving. Make sure staff are supervised and take accountability and ownership of their job and serve food on time.”
How hotels contain waste
Hotels account for a large part of this waste. However, the hospitality sector is also thinking along sustainable lines. A few hotels draw up their menus and make food in batches so as to avoid throwing any away.
Jawad Ali, environment, safety and health manager at Villa Rihab and Rimal Rotana Hotels, explains how his organisation deals with minimising food waste while planning daily iftar buffets during Ramadan.
“Throwing food away is throwing money away, so we act proactively to reduce waste, especially during Ramadan. We have a designated team in the kitchen and F&B (Food and Beverage) whose job is to ensure maximum quality, less waste and high customer satisfaction.
“When booking a banquet, our teams ask the important questions — the number of confirmed invitees, the nationalities of the guests, last-minute changes, etc. This information helps us plan the event smartly and prepare the food as per demand.
Planned menus for private functions, he says, lead to little waste. “However, for the open iftar buffet, most of our events are designed for guests between 100 to 150 people, which allows us to manage the food display in one location.”
He says the following precautions are taken to avoid waste:
• The food display in the chafing dishes are not overloaded,
• Small plates are used.
• Food is prepared on the same day of the event to avoid any spoilage and waste and the temperature is monitored.
• In case of last-minute cancellation or not many guests attending an open buffet, the back-up food, which is stored safely in hot cabinets and cold holding units is saved and served in a hygienic manner in the staff cafeteria.
• To control waste, we order only small portions of processed food such as yoghurts, croissants and pastry items.
• Monitoring the trend of guests’ food consumption and daily measurement of waste production is carried out to allow us to analyse the waste, so we move towards further reduction of wastage.
Social initiatives to educate people
A lot needs to be done to educate people of the implications of wasting the world’s precious resources when millions are dying of starvation. Eco-friendly organisations need to launch a sustained campaign to educate people and discourage them from throwing good food in the bin.
Chetna Pandita, head of marketing and communication at The Change Initiative, an eco- friendly Dubai store, which only markets energy saving and sustainable goods says: “Ramadan is a time of test, patience and reflection. One should not forget that the true meaning of fasting is to experience hunger, to feel humility and compassion towards the poor. The holy month comes every year to remind us of the many people around the world who don’t have enough food to eat. We need to be prudent and believe in ‘less is more’. We need to be more thoughtful of both others and the environment, and encourage others to do the same.
“There are many easy ways in which you can cut food waste. The Emirates Red Crescent launched a leftover campaign called Hefth Al Ne’ma in 2004. The initiative collects untouched and safe leftover food from homes, hotels and restaurants each day and distributes it to poor families around the country and to workers’ accommodation.
