Here’s a little brain teaser.
Why is it that a fast by 1.5 billion Muslims around the world causes a surge in Canadian pulse sales?
The answer is that when they break their fast they eat dishes made from pulse crops and they eat a lot of them, according to observers and practicing Muslims.
But wait a minute – pulse crops are a staple of Muslim diets year round, so why would consumption go up during a month of fasting?
“I guess it’s a little bit like turkey in Canada,” said Pulse Canada chief executive officer Gord Bacon.
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“It’s eaten all year but there’s a certain time of year where a lot more is eaten.”
Murad Al-Katib, a Muslim and former manager of international projects with the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership, said Ramadan is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith. It involves a total abstention from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse from dawn until dusk starting in the ninth month of the lunar year, after the first sighting of the crescent moon. Daytime fasting is accompanied by praying and reading of the Koran.
Al-Katib said the fast allows adult Muslims to endure the hardships of the hungry and the downtrodden by depriving themselves of basic necessities – specifically food and water – during daylight hours. It’s a time of spiritual consciousness and social responsibility.
“It’s showing unity of the Islamic people and an understanding of those who don’t have the basic human needs.”
But when dusk falls, the fast becomes a feast, a celebration of life.
“It’s truly like Thanksgiving or Christmas feasts, but for 30 consecutive days,” Al-Katib said.”It’s really a great time. It’s a sacrifice time, but in the evenings it really is a family celebration. Every day is a party.”
Betty Lynn Schwab teaches an introduction to Islam course at the University of Saskatchewan. She has a different perspective on activities surrounding the holy month.
“To imagine them all having big feasts for 30 days in a row just isn’t what’s going on.”
She said the nightly meal that breaks the fast is more like a “normal dinner.” For strict observers of Islam it involves little sustenance at all. Schwab has no explanation why pulse sales soar during the fast.
“I don’t know how the pulse crop increase fits into that. To think of them feasting more than normal has just not been my experience or my knowledge.”
But she said there is a holiday that marks the end of the fast called Eidul-Fitr, a Thanksgiving or Christmas-type celebration where pulse consumption could rise.
One thing is undeniable – Ramadan is definitely an important time for Canadian pulse exports.
“It’s just a critical period for us,” Bacon said.
Al-Katib said many traditional dishes served to break the fast are lentil based, such as red lentil soup. Chickpeas and beans are also a big part of many Muslim diets at that time of the year.
“We estimate that it has the effect of doubling the demand for pulses during the time leading up to Ramadan,” Al-Katib said.
The extra demand generated by Ramadan couldn’t arrive at a better time for Canadian pulse growers. The industry has blossomed at least in part because of the Islamic religious holiday. The dates have coincided nicely with the Canadian harvest, but that will soon change.
Ramadan began on Nov. 16 this year but because of the shorter lunar calendar it moves ahead by approximately 10 days a year. In the not-too-distant future it will occur before Canadian pulse exporters can gather and ship new crop.
“As we work further back, the advantage that we currently have will become one that the Australians will have in the years ahead,” Bacon said.
Ramadan has a “very defined” window of demand. When the window closes, it does so with a bang.
“You miss the Ramadan season and you’ve missed it. It’s not like you can get it there a week late,” Bacon said.
He said Canadian pulse growers and exporters will be under increasing pressure in coming years to meet that window of demand until it gets to the point where harvest and transportation lag times won’t allow farmers to ship new product to the lucrative Ramadan markets.
