How the rising cost of living is affecting Ramadan celebrations

Fresh produce, meats and desserts filled the grocery bags of shoppers at Alsalam Supermarket in London on Wednesday as people prepared for the beginning of Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims around the world. 

With rising food prices, some Londoners celebrating Ramadan are adjusting their cooking plans — while others have chosen to let the celebrations take precedent for now. 

Thursday marks the first full day of fasting, when most Muslims abstain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset. The fast ends each day with an iftar meal, commonly shared with others. This year, Ramadan begins on March 22 at sunset and ends with Eid al-Fitr on April 20. 

Some shoppers reflected on the effects of inflation while shopping at Alsalam Supermarket, a Middle Eastern grocery store that opened on Southdale Road about nine months ago and is now catering to Ramadan shoppers for the first time. 

Amal Youssef came to fill her fridge so she didn't have to run out to the grocery store during her fast. This year, she's cooking less food so none goes to waste. 

"I used to buy anything, everything, a lot. But now I make sure I buy [a] little bit [of] what I need, not what I want, and that is working," she said. "This year it's gonna be not a lot."

She used to buy about three heads of lettuce at a time, but now only buys one, she said. She has fattoush on the menu for Thursday's iftar, along with zucchini and grape leaves. 

Iman Jeroun went shopping to pick up some zucchini and bread for her iftar meals she'll celebrate with her husband and children. Ramadan is a special time to be together with family and make memories, she said. 

 She and her husband spend time thinking and trying out ideas for how to manage their bills, she said. 

"Everything is rising. Even the bread, even the flour or the oil, even the main ingredients," she said. Her family is cutting back on cooking with oil to reduce costs, and opting to air fry instead. 

Ali Kadri is having his children and grandchildren over Thursday evening for a meal complete with roast beef and potatoes.

During Ramadan, Middle Eastern grocers tend to have special prices, so he doesn't feel the cost as much, he said. But he's ready to celebrate without worrying about the price tag. 

"It's not gonna change anything," he said. "[I] cut down a little bit here and there to to be able to manage, but not during Ramadan...We work a little bit extra here and there to make some extra money to budget this."

Inflation affecting business owners too

Inflation is affecting grocers, too, said Kadija Ismail, who helps run Alsalam Supermarket with her husband, Yazan Abualhayjaa and other family. They also have a store in Windsor. 

"Most of the vendors that bring us our stuff are raising their prices. In result of that we are having to lower our [profit] margins...so that we can keep providing that same low prices for everybody," she said. 

The store has been much busier that usual with people preparing for Ramadan buying up oil, vegetables, cheese, sweets and meats, said Abualhayjaa.

Londoner Saboor Khan is a representative of the Muslim Association of Canada.

"Food costs is definitely something we're talking about," he said. 

Larger inter-faith celebrations to break the daily fast are costing double what they used to, he said, and people might be limiting how many people they invite over to celebrate in order to keep costs down. 

Some people assume that because people are fasting, their grocery bills go down, but they stay about the same or even rise because Muslims are buying healthy, good quality food with lots of protein to get them through the day, Khan added.