Don’t waste food: ESO

The Environment Society of Oman (ESO) also called upon people not to waste food.

“Some 27% of waste is food waste. That’s huge. Let’s work together towards reducing this percentage. Only prepare the amount of food needed and store leftovers properly for consumption later,” an ESO statement said. Dr Mohanad Hasan, operations manager at Mawashi Oman, a company that maintained farms and meat processing units, said that food wastage was a problem of inefficient management of food and, partly, a cultural one as well.

“We have this habit of wasting food here in Oman. Culturally, some Arabs and Muslims do that, despite Islam telling us specifically not to waste food. When guests visit their houses, people make or buy food in excess to let guests know they are welcome. It is seen as being courteous, but really, it’s not,” said Hasan.

“Moreover, food wastage becomes worse during the month of Ramadan. We should remind people that Islam asks us not to waste food. If you want to prepare food, make sure you make just enough for all people and not more than what is required, especially during Ramadan. During this month, people should follow Islam and that means reducing food wastage too,” he added.

“We should use the media to get the message out that people should only buy and prepare the food they will consume and nothing extra,” said Hasan.

He added that it was not just prepared and processed edibles, but food in other forms as well. He said that at his company, they tried to manage whatever waste they produced efficiently.