Food during Ramadan [Archives:2002/21/Last Page]

Ma Isnt it awful! The only time you really see extravagance and wasteful abuse of the blessings we have, particularly food and drink, is during the holy month of Ramadan.
M And this abuse and extravagance is apparent from the smallest to the largest household. During the month of Ramadan, some streets and the marketplace turn into places for making and selling all sorts of food. Its as if people are split into two groups during Ramadan those who make food and drink, grilling, frying, messing and generally making muck, and those who spend their money buying this food and drink without caring whether its good and nourishing or likely to give you stomach cramps and make you sick.
Ma Thats not the only thing. Some employees take a holiday; they get hold of a frying pan and stove and set themselves up in the middle of the street to make samousas; and those who dont have a job or who are skiving from the workshop during the month of Ramadan are transformed into producers of cakes and fried food and drinks. As they say, Jump, and to Hell with the consequences!1
M Yes, thats what that saying means! They spend hours doing something they know nothing about, either in terms of its benefits or the harm it can do, and without permission or a license to do what theyre doing to make sure the food is healthy. Then they go and block the roads with their wares and all the stuff they need to make it.
Ma And theres something even more dangerous than that.
M Go on!
Ma The gas canisters lining the length of the marketplace are right next to the flaming gas stoves and the frying pans layered in soot and filth which bubble oil like the fires of Hell mixed with all the dust and fumes. What theyve done is turn a marketplace crowded with people into a piece of Hell.
M What a wonderful description youve just given of people and the marketplace, Musida! Anyone listening to you now would think youd become an ace reporter!
Ma The state the marketplace is in at the moment is pretty clear for all to see, Musid. It certainly isnt in need of any reporters or newspapers.
M Thats right. And this state, which is more apparent during Ramadan than at any other time, is one type of environmental pollution.
Ma Quite!
M Having a go at making food, drinks and cakes without the necessary knowledge and without a proper license or proper inspection, and without the consumer being aware of whats going on is one form of pollution. Setting up gas canisters next to flaming stoves and frying pans with boiling oil and poisonous gases rising into the air when the marketplace is packed with people is another, and every man and woman should take on board whats going on. As the Yemeni proverb goes, At forty days old, a child wont get a squint!
1 The original relates to the pre-Revolution ban on musical instruments, when musicians would hide their instruments under their clothes and go to secret meeting places to play. The saying in its more literal sense is, Jump, and dont worry about the noise!

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