Muslims around the world start fasting during the day on Thursday
At Alsalam Supermarket in London on Wednesday, shoppers filled their bags with fresh fruits, meats, and sweets as they got ready for the start of Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims all over the world.
Some Londoners who are celebrating Ramadan are changing their cooking plans because food prices are going up, while others are putting their cooking plans on hold for now.
Most Muslims don’t eat or drink from sunrise to sunset on Thursday, which is the first full day of fasting. Every day, the fast ends with a meal called iftar, which is usually eaten with other people. This year, Ramadan starts at sunset on March 22 and ends on April 20 with Eid al-Fitr.
Some customers at Al-Salam Supermarket, a Middle Eastern grocery store that opened on Southdale Road about nine months ago and is now serving Ramadan customers for the first time, thought about how inflation has changed their lives.
Amal Youssef came to her house to fill her fridge with food so she wouldn’t have to go to the store during her fast. This year, she is cooking less so that none of the food goes to waste.
“I used to buy a lot of anything and everything. But now I only buy a little bit of what I need and not what I want, and that seems to be working “she told me. “This year, it won’t be much.”
She used to buy around three heads of lettuce at once, but now she only buys one. She is making fattoush, zucchini, and grape leaves for Thursday’s iftar meal.
Iman Jeroun bought zucchini for Ramandan while he was out. She says she’s noticed the prices of bread, flour, oil and other groceries rising and has been cooking with less oil to save money. (CBC/Michelle Both)
She said that she and her husband think about and try out different ways to pay their bills.
“All things are going up. Even the bread, the flour, and the oil, the most important parts, “she told me. Her family is cutting back on cooking with oil in order to save money. Instead, they are choosing to air fry.
Ali Kadri is having dinner with his kids and grandkids on Thursday night. The meal will include roast beef and potatoes.
Middle Eastern grocery stores often have special prices during Ramadan, so he doesn’t feel the cost as much, he said. But he’s ready to party without thinking about how much it will cost.
He said, “It won’t change anything.” “I’ve had to cut back a little bit here and there, but not during Ramadan… We work a little bit more here and there to make a little extra money so we can fit this into our budget.”
Business owners are also affected by inflation
Kadija Ismail, who runs Alsalam Supermarket with her husband, Yazan Abualhayjaa, and other family members, said that inflation is also hurting grocery stores. There is also a store for them in Windsor.
“Most of the people who sell us things are putting up their prices. Because of this, we have to lower our profit margins so that we can continue to offer everyone the same low prices “she told me.
Abualhayjaa said that the store has been much busier than usual because people are buying oil, vegetables, cheese, sweets, and meats to get ready for Ramadan.
Saboor Khan is from London and works for the Muslim Association of Canada.
He said, “Food costs are definitely something we talk about.”
He said that larger interfaith celebrations to break the daily fast now cost twice as much as they used to, so people may be limiting the number of people they invite to celebrations to keep costs low.
Some people think that when people fast, their grocery bills go down, but Khan said that this isn’t the case because Muslims buy healthy, high-quality food with lots of protein to get them through the day.