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With the beginning of the Ramadan season among’st the Muslims, all we see around is the food stalls all over the roads in the evenings with very diverse kinds of foods on display. It is at this time that many of the forgotten foods in our homes are actually cooked once again and I bet the children wait for the breaking of the fast so impatiently.
Ramadan is the month whereby Muslims are required to fast such that they may be able to feel the pangs of hunger of the poor and thus remember them. Yet, it is rather ironical how our tables at home get filled to the brim when it comes to breaking the fast. You may find almost ten different foods have been cooked for a family of three? And you wonder what happens to all that food that will obviously remain.
Many consider this month the time to feast and it can get to a very ugly scenario where one eats and eats till they can’t breathe well anymore leaving alone not being able to stand up from the place they are seated. This is obviously not the agenda of this season for it is meant to keep us healthy and not deteriorate our health even more. People with diabetes, high blood pressure and many other diseases break their diets while the rest eat a lot of oily and sugary foods that are obviously unhealthy.
It is even more ironical that during this season, the food stuffs in the markets double and triple in their prices instead of going lower. This happens because the business personnel have realized how much people eat quite more in this month. This beats the expected because initially, this season is meant for people to eat less but it is very evident everywhere how food has been made a priority.
Extravagance is a very unlikeable behavior and however much we may want to eat a variety of foods, it is very important that people set a limit to the amount of food they cook or buy. Let us not cook too much such that the extra ends up in dustbins while many people out there have nothing to eat. I really admire the people who barely change their food menus in such a season or maybe just add single food stuff on the table.
We all have to understand that this is not a month of eating nor is it an eating competition such that we act on the food with so much vengeance. It is important to keep healthy by not over eating or eating too much of oily and excessive sugary foods. Let’s avoid extravagance by sharing the extra food with the poor and needy rather than throwing it away.
As William Londer said, ‘to ensure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness and maintain an interest in life.’
