Half an hour before sunset, Baba Abdu’s grill master is in top form. White, spicy-smelling smoke from Kufta skewers and pieces of chicken fills the air in front of the Bab al-Futuh, a historic city gate in Cairo. Employees distribute lettuce and tahini paste from buckets onto small tin plates. Almost every table is occupied. Dozens are waiting to break their daily fast at the Maghrib call to prayer.
Every year, a festive mood descends on Egypt during the fasting month of Ramadan, the end of which is expected to be celebrated on Friday. For devout Muslims, the days revolve around doing without food and drink, among other things. After sunset, family, friends and colleagues are served all the bigger. Contrary to the assumption that fasting also means less consumption, the demand for food increases sharply in these weeks – as does the amount of food thrown away.
Share surpluses with those in need
“It has a lot to do with culture,” says Nasredin Hag Elamin, representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Egypt. “In our region, generosity and offering food is a key element of the culture.” As a religious dimension, there is also the fact that Muslims should share excess food with the needy. This commandment is interpreted broadly in Ramadan, says Hag Elamin, even though Islam teaches eating sparingly. “People should be more pious, but end up wasting more,” says Hag Elamin.
Egypt is not alone with the problem. According to a UN study, around 30 to 50 percent of all food prepared is thrown away in Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam. In Qatar it is 25 percent, in the Emirates 40 percent. The reason is “extravagant meals that far exceed the needs of families and where leftovers are thrown away”. People also want to raise awareness in Lebanon, Tunisia and Indonesia, where most Muslims live worldwide.
new habits
Campaigns are now trying to take targeted countermeasures. Some tips: plan your meals more carefully, only buy what you really need, store groceries correctly and save leftovers for the next few days or donate to food banks. “Ramadan is an excellent opportunity for new habits that will carry us through the year and beyond,” writes the aid organization Islamic Relief. Also at weddings, births and deaths buffets often offer excessive amounts of food.
Families in Europe who want to be more economical with food at Christmas are certainly also clinging to old habits. In many households, the festival turns into a multi-day group gluttony with the hope of finally doing everything differently the following year. In the end, the process is similar to what Sarah al-Haddad from the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB) describes from Egyptian households: “You will have many guests, so you prepare a lot of food.”
In the absence of comparable data, it is difficult to determine which countries produce the most food per capita each year. But experts see a global problem. Not only because of hundreds of millions of starving people, but also with the climate crisis. According to the FAO, losses during harvests and food waste are responsible for around 8 to 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
Poorer people and the extended families
In Egypt, which imports 65 percent of its staple foods, the waste may be particularly striking: a third of the rapidly growing population lives in poverty, and food prices continue to rise. Many poorer people make ends meet mainly with the help of extended families. The EFB food bank also collects food from hotels, restaurants and, according to the plans, soon also from supermarkets in order to distribute it to orphanages and old people’s homes.
A year ago, Egyptian MP Amira Sabir presented a bill to reduce food waste. Penalties for wasting food and incentives for sparing use of food should help to steer restaurants in the right direction. But psychological approaches are also needed, says Al-Haddad from the EFB, for example smaller plates in hotels. “With large plates, you will also uncover more food.”
