Volunteers walking the “runway” at the Pantai Dalam Ramadan Bazaar, Kuala Lumpur, in specially designed outfits made out of discarded food waste as a stand against food wastage. — Courtesy photo
In A bid to spark conversation on food wastage, anti-food waste initiative MYSaveFood launched a bold campaign this Ramadan – #BazirRamadan – a striking fashion stunt featuring outfits made entirely from unsold and discarded food from Ramadan bazaars.
The campaign’s name plays on the similarity between the words bazar (bazaar) and bazir (waste) in Bahasa Malaysia, drawing attention to the volume of food thrown out during the fasting month.
In a press statement, MYSaveFood said that in 2024, more than 60,000kg of food was wasted across 147 Ramadan bazaars – enough to feed 120,000 people.
To highlight this issue, MYSaveFood took a satirical and eye-catching approach and debuted a tongue-in-cheek Hari Raya collection made of food waste which was paraded on a red carpet at the Pantai Dalam Ramadan bazaar in Kuala Lumpur.
The group of volunteers were dressed in outfits creatively assembled using nasi lemak wrappers, leftover vegetables, and plastic food containers.
“Food waste during Ramadan has always been a long-standing issue.
“People know about it, but not many have done anything meaningful to stop it,” said MYSaveFood deputy director Ainul A’syara Kamal.
“That’s why we took a bold approach with this stunt to bring attention to the issue and make it visible in an unexpected way,” she said.
Ainul said MYSaveFood had worked with Ramadan bazaar vendors for the past nine years, rescuing unsold food before it went to waste.
“As of March 16, the group had salvaged 46,208kg of food from 108 bazaars nationwide –equivalent to RM599,100 in value,” she added.
The rescued meals were distributed to the less fortunate through volunteers.
MYSaveFood is still actively recruiting volunteers via the #BazirRamadan initiative to help distribute surplus meals collected from Ramadan bazaars to the less fortunate.
For more information, visit www.bazirramadan.com
