Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- It is better to interpret the ransom (kaffarah) as two meals or their value offered to a poor person in return for each day that one does not fast.
2- These two meals are to be of the average food consumed by the person offering them.
In responding to this question, the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states:
There is no doubt that fasting during the month of Ramadan is an obligation prescribed for all adult Muslims except for the elderly and Muslims suffering from chronic diseases and Muslims in similar situations, where they do not observe fasting for reasons. They should pay ransom.
Allah says:
{For those who can do it (With hardship), is a ransom, the feeding of one that is indigent.} (Al-Baqarah 2:184)
Ibn Abbas states that this verse is not abrogated and it refers to the aged men and women, who cannot fast. Hence, they should feed one poor person per day.
Al-Qurtubi argues that it is stated that the elderly men and women, who cannot observe fasting or can but with severe hardship, should break their fast.
Despite the agreement that the ransom is specified as feeding one person per day, different opinions have been expressed regarding the amount of food offered as a ransom.
According to the Maliki and Shafi`i schools, the ransom is made of one mudd of the food commonly consumed in the locality of the person offering it.
The mudd refers to one quarter of a sa`, which is a weight that varies depending on the type of food one is weighing. Nevertheless, the most accepted weight is 2.4 or 2.5 kg.
According to the Hanafi school, the ransom refers to one sa` but if what is offered is wheat, then half a sa` becomes due.
The preponderant opinion for us is that estimating the ransom by mudd or sa` is based on ijtihad but not on a clear, decisive text that proves one opinion and negates the other.
Hence, some scholars of the early Muslim predecessors interpret the ransom in a more inclusive way that includes bread and meat.
It is authentically narrated that in the year in which he passed away, Anas ibn Malik was not capable of observing fasting in Ramadan and so he fed thirty poor people with meat and bread and handful or two handfuls extra.
In another narration about him, it is stated that when he became too weak or old to observe fasting in Ramadan, he ordered to offer meat and bread to poor people until they were full.
Based on the above-mentioned argument, it is better to interpret the ransom as two meals or their value offered to a poor person in return for each day that one does not fast. These two meals are to be of the average food consumed by the person offering them.
Nowadays feeding a poor person is not achieved by the offering of one quarter of a sa` i.e. half a kilo or even a kilo of wheat. The feeding refers to feeding until one is full for a day. This can be achieved by offering two meals if one can afford them, but if not then s/he should pay what s/he can afford i.e. one quarter or half a sa` or a full sa` as stated above.
The norms of the place where the giver lives should be taken into consideration. There is no harm to give the ransom to charitable organizations to deliver it to the right beneficiaries.
Almighty Allah knows best.