UAE residents comment on wasting food during Ramadan. Gulf News asks UAE residents to share their views on wasting food during Ramadan. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Food wastage is very, very common in Dubai, in the Middle East, in the sense that there's
00:13a lot of food dished out in the restaurants. Also, avoiding people opting for the larger,
00:22extra large meals, one extra dirham, all these tend to add up as an excess.
00:28I don't think anybody is there who doesn't know about it. And yet, day after day and
00:34year after year, we see people wasting a lot of food.
00:38I feel it's criminal to waste food because around the world, there are so many people
00:43who don't even have basic needs and one single meal.
00:48All of us must be aware of the food wasted because some other countries, some other people,
00:58they are starving.
00:59I mean, anybody who knows the value of food and knows how much people around the world
01:07need this food, the ones who don't have it, will realize how important it is to save and
01:12conserve food. It's not only the wastage, it's also the resources used to prepare this
01:19food which get wasted if the food itself is thrown away.
01:22In our religion, in Islam or Muslims, fasting doesn't mean we should consume more food at
01:29night. It's the opposite.
01:32Ramadan is fasting, not eating. So it's about avoiding eating, not about eating. So I think
01:40people wasting many food for the month of Ramadan, I think it's a very big misunderstanding
01:48for Muslims. Maybe it's some customs and traditions for most of Arabic and Muslim countries, but
01:57you can say it's a bad habit.
01:59I wish for all the people who eat to fast, and it's not good to eat too much and run away.
02:09It could be to use the food which is leftover and pass it on to places where it can be consumed.
02:15But I just think we all need to be more conscious about the food that we prepare and we eat.
02:23And that itself would be a big help.
02:26I think the parents should inculcate the habit to children. It has to be a behavioral change
02:32for the growing children in the schools. I think it has to start from there, in my opinion.
02:37There are people around the globe whom they are not finding food to eat. I think it will
02:47be a good idea or better off for these people to donate this excessive or extra food or
02:56extra money to the people whom they are in need for it.
03:00I just think that people should beware when they're ordering goods, especially food. Avoid
03:06the fact of upsizing your meals. And a simple thing like eat what's on your plate and eat
03:13minimum. Especially in the month of Ramadan, it's a case of learning how the poor survive and
03:18also being able to shrink that stomach and eat less. So let's eat less, let's fast for the reason of fasting.