Post date: Aug 16, 2011 3:10:7 PM
Large lavish "iftar" buffets have become a symbol of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Dubai. But leftovers from the feasts are usually thrown out at the end of the evening, accounting for a 15-20 percent increase in food waste in the emirate during the month, and some are asking if wasting such large amounts of food defeats the object of fasting.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. REUTERS- Hundreds of Asian labourers gather outside Dubai's Fatima Hassan Mosque everyday ahead of the iftar meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, where they are presented with plates laden with fruit, pakoras and biryani.
Volunteers at the mosque work hastily to scoop the deep-fried vegetables and the rice-based dishes of stewed meats from huge metal urns on to plates in time for weary guests to break their daily dawn-to-dusk fast.
Nour Mohammed, a sales co-ordinator who volunteers to serve food at the mosque, situated near Dubai's creek -- the location of the emirate's original trading hub when it was just a small trade and fishing centre -- says the centre provides a free Iftar for the poor during the holy month, cooking enough rice, mutton or chicken to feed some 1,500-1,800 workers in one sitting.
"We cook accordingly, you know daily we have around 1,500 to 1,800 people come everyday so between that range we make it and we put everything, suffice for everybody as you saw there was hardly any waste left over, nothing, we call the people (back) and we give it," Nour said.
Labourers who break their fast at the mosque say gathering as a community is more important.
"Look the Muslim he is always feeling good, even if it's a small something to eat, it's really something for Allah, we are coming here for praying and for to be together, us Muslims, not for eating," said labourer Sayeed at the end of the shared meal.
Little is wasted at the Fatima Hassan mosque, but Ramadan brings a huge increase in food waste across the city and the Gulf as leftovers from more lavish banquets attended by the well-to-do are thrown out in a region where soaring summer temperatures mean that fresh food goes off quickly.
Iftars at the top end venues are often pricey, with some charging as much as 200 dirhams (55 U.S. dollars) per person. Migrant worker on average earn less than 1,000 dirhams (272 U.S. dollars) per month and often have large debts.
Lawyer and Islamic scholar, Sheikh Muddassir Siddiqui, says that generosity has always been a tradition in Islam, but preserving left overs is not practised enough.
"It becomes a show, a show off, keeping up with the Joneses. If they made ten dishes iftar I am going to make 12 dishes iftar, with that then you also have no system of preserving the food," he said.
Despite the hours of preparation put into the often vast displays of food, waiters at top hotels in Dubai say much of the food left over goes straight into the waste bins.
The amount of food thrown out in the emirate jumps considerably in the holy month --- by as much as 20 percent according to Dubai Municipality, with most of the waste comprising rice and non-vegetable foods.
Around 1,850 tonnes of food were thrown out on average per day during Ramadan in 2010, roughly 20 percent of total waste in the emirate during the holy month, the Municipality said.
In neighbouring Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, at least 500 tonnes of food were thrown out on a daily basis during the holy month last year the daily 'National' newspaper reported.
The large increase in food waste during the holy month has drawn criticism from religious scholars who say that it goes against the spirit of fasting.
"People should be made aware that this is not acceptable in Islam, you are not really getting the blessing by being wasteful," added Sheikh Siddiqui.
Competition to lay on the best iftars begins before Ramadan, with advertising and magazine listings to draw in the cash of those fasting and the many non-fasting expats too.
Sheikh Siddiqui says over indulgence should be stopped.
"Extravagance should come to an end, the competition if there is any, one can do it in charitable goods. There are so many people hungry around the world, particularly when you are watching Somalia, Ethiopia, and you are watching people how they are starving," Sheikh Siddiqui said.
Initiatives to combat food waste are hindered with a lack of safe means of transportation, with health and safety superseding distribution efforts.
Dubai over the last 50 years has transformed itself into a regional business and tourism hub renowned for extravagant real estate projects, flashy living and the luxurious banquets at hotels and restaurants to accommodate the demands of wealthy
consumers who want the best fresh food at their iftar feasts.
Food demand increases so much during Ramadan that some retailers hike up prices to get more out of consumers, a trend the UAE government acted against by imposing a price freeze on food items throughout the month.