The Covid-19 pandemic has made residents in the United Arab Emirates more frugal and efficient in limiting the amount of food waste they produce.

According to an article published by The National,a UAE-based news site, residents are budgeting their food purchases more carefully and producing less waste.

Residents’ habits have shifted away from a culture of eating out, takeout meals, and overestimating food needs toward more thrifty grocery buying and home cooking, according to The National.

Faced with restrictions on the amount and types of food available, UAE families are becoming more adept at quantifying proper serving sizes, thereby generating less food waste.

And last week Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, said the UAE must rein in its culture of excess. “We have a habit of excess that we need to restrain,” he said during a video conference.

Read the original article here.