PEOPLE have been urged to shop, cook and eat smarter to avoid food wastage during Ramadan.
Municipal councillors have also called on citizens and residents to cut down on lavish iftars and suhoors, and are planning to launch awareness campaigns in co-ordination with supermarkets, restaurants and other businesses to educate the public in a bid to tackle waste.
Around 35 per cent of the food purchased is thrown away during the holy month, according to a municipal council chairman.
“This Ramadan, we are encouraging residents and citizens to reflect on their shopping and consumption habits,” said Southern Municipal Council chairman Abdulla Abdullatif.
“We understand that 15 to 25pc of food purchased by families finds its way to the garbage bin regularly. This increases to around 35pc in the country during Ramadan and other festivals – which is much higher than the 33pc wastage rate in Europe,” he added.
Mr Abdullatif called on people to cook less and to think twice before piling up one’s plate during feasts.
Having plentiful food for guests, and anyone who might ask for it, is part of the generosity expected of Muslims during Ramadan, but most of it is dumped later, he said, calling on people to be more aware of their limits and act responsibly.
“Statistics show that around 600 tonnes of organic food waste are being generated every day in Bahrain, this is alarming and needs to stop,” he said.
“We are planning to launch campaigns to educate people about the importance of reducing food waste, especially during this season.”
Mr Abdullatif thanked societies and groups that collect food and distribute them to those in need, stressing the need for more such donations and initiatives to help the underprivileged.
Capital Trustees Authority director-general and acting Southern Municipality director-general Mohammed Al Sehli also called on people to feast responsibly. “It shouldn’t be a daily banquet during Ramadan, with 50pc of food thrown into the garbage,” he said.
“Littering during the holy month is much higher than on normal days. We still need comparative numbers for the five Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr weeks to determine a pattern, but we believe, wastage increases from mid-Ramadan with gergaoun, followed by religious occasions and peaks during the 10 last days before the joyful Eid.”
The United Nations Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index had revealed earlier that people in Bahrain threw away 146,000 tonnes of food in 2020, costing the country BD94.9 million.
It was reported last year that food waste in Bahrain was transported to the Hafeera landfill in Askar where it was compacted and covered with sand to avoid vermin and insect infestations. Gulf City Cleaning Company operations manager Hisham Al Haddad had said that they were ready to deal with three-folds waste with on-alert manpower and machinery. Waste management company Urbaser Bahrain technical manager Yasin Mukthar added that it’s their job to ensure all dumpsters are cleaned and cleared regularly to avoid spillage.
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))