Anti-food wastage campaign during Ramadan

Dubai: Ahmad Ragab, a 24-year-old engineer from Egypt, spoke to Gulf News about the recurring habit of people of wasting food during Ramadan and offered some tips and advice on how to prevent it from happening.

“I do not waste food during Ramadan, but there are definitely some cases where, I personally or my family as a unit, have wasted food, but it is on very rare occasions as we have been brought up and raised with principles that teach us not to waste food. Every year we learn something and become better people during Ramadan, so of course it is always an opportunity when Ramadan arrives that we try and be more disciplined about wasting food and other things as well.”

“Usually food wastage happens when the amount of food that needs to be cooked is overestimated and this tends to happen a lot during invitations, particularly in the Arab world where you’d rather overestimate the food than underestimate it to show our ‘karam’ (generosity). As a tip to all Muslims fasting this Ramadan, I would suggest always filling your plate with small portions. If it’s enough, it’s enough. If not, have another small portion. Don’t overestimate your hunger. A last tip would be to not throw away leftovers, give them to workers living around.”

“My message to society is that we should be aware of our actions and their effects on the people around us. We should instil in our children the value of what we have, because not everyone on this earth has the privilege of a full stomach. We should learn to sympathise with those who have so little and not take the things we have for granted.”