Would you be annoyed if school went 100% halal meat?

[Wintershealing]

The school I work at has a new head teacher who has announced from after half term all meat needs to be halal. She says it's a more ethical way to slaughter animals (she's vegan herself) and no non-halal meat will be on offer. She said anyone who doesn't want it can bring a packed lunch.

I don't know much about halal meat other than it's religious connections. What do you think?

No, people with a brain cell.

We don't need halal meat, Muslims do, they can bring their own of eat veggie food

Going to a wedding, not a school. One is compuslory and there to withhold British values

Muslim extremists taking over the country?🤯 Are you feeling ok?

We're talking about school dinners here.😆

So genuinely interested would you not eat food at a Jewish friend's house because it would be kosher ? You would refuse a Pakaskani colleagues home made food at a " bring and share" lunch ? I honestly can't see how you can function in moderm Britain refusing to eat food prepared in accordance to other religions.

Yes British values : tolerance, kindness and multi- culturalism. Respecting other peoples beliefs and values.

No we don’t. Christians see the trinity - father, son and holy ghost (which brings in Jesus ) as god which us Jews and muslims don’t. The basis of our faith is that there is only one god and that a human born man is not divine.

So not that cheerful then

Yes I think there is a very good argument ( or actually several) for making all school food vegetarian. I think the Michaela school has done this.

But it would be against my own religion to eat meat (not everything else) that was ritually slaughtered. I’m not sure why you think I would place someone else's religion over my own religious beliefs. Thats quite an odd suggestion. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t eat meat prepared in accordance with their own religious beliefs. Thats fine. But others may not be able to eat it. I have no problem with either Muslims or Jews following their own religious practices. The problem is when you make something universal it may exclude others.

I’m not sure if Muslims can eat Kosher meat or Jewish people can eat Halal meat. I suspect they probably wouldn’t and it would definitely not be personal if they didn’t.

Silly argument. Veal? Fois gras? Dog meat? Shark soup? There isn't a requirement you eat meat or don't eat meat.

Fair enough so you are largely vegetarian outside of the house ? As I said in my last post that is probably the easiest solution all round. Also healthier.

We used to have to say grace over our food at school. I'm not a Christian. Where were all you outraged people when our beef burgers were being prayed over then?

I don't care whether the cows died listening to a cd of an Imam, a Rabbi or dubstep, I'm making an unethical choice by eating them in the first place, it'd be hypocritical and self serving of me to then criticise the way they were killed.

God... you know the chap who created the world in 7 days etc etc.
Same God in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
One God. The same one.

Well, the cow doesn't care, and I'm not there, so why would I, as an atheist, care if some magic words were said by someone at the abbatoir?

It wouldn't bother me. I buy a lot of meat from small producers who use small, local abattoirs but I also buy stuff from supermarkets which will have been slaughtered on a mass scale and the animals will be stressed whether they are stunned or have their throats slit. Dcs school has a vegetarian option which those who require kosher or halal meet have but the school uses cheap meat (because the cost needs to be low, i know this) so halal or not its not ethical.

headteacher sounds very racist to me

Yes, I absolutely would be annoyed. Firstly, due to the animal welfare concerns and secondly because I just think that it's treating one group as more special than another. I wouldn't dream of going up to someone in a restaurant who appeared to be on a different religion or atheist and insist upon saying Grace. Apparently most schools in London only serve halal. Many restaurants do to (inc pizza express, etc). It's buried away on their websites. Apparently it is cheaper for them to go all halal than cater for different customers. I have less of an objection if the food has been prepared in conformity to animal welfare standards and if it's a restaurant that makes this clear on the menu and signage. For me it's about consumer choice. In schools, if it is all halal food then there is no choice and that is wrong.

Halal meat isn’t actually strictly halal in the UK which is why the most orthodox muslims are vegetarian or get their meat imported from muslim countries.

The bit about how you’ve eaten kosher and halal meat and haven’t become Jewish or Muslim made me chuckle a bit……just because last Christmas, DH and I spent time with a close friend who is an avid hunter. We took part in the hunt, and the preparation of the deer to get it ready for eating. We had The Mandalorian on the TV in the garage.

I think eating the deer might have made me a Jedi 😱 I think I can feel The Force 👀😂😂😂

In which case, i'm sure that the same god who made all the religions would be happy for muslims to eat non halal meat. I mean, if it's good enough for the Christians that he created, surely it's good enough for everyone. That would also accommodate the atheists. It would be like stream lining his various religious franchises into one brand.

I'd feel uneasy about it because of the animal welfare concerns. The whole custom just sounds brutal, although I guess it's some comfort that 80% of uk halal is pre stunned (if true). I still don't like the sound of it. But I like animals a lot and don't eat them and luckily DC has gone off eating animals too, so we're doing mostly veggie lunchboxes. 😁 I know this will never happen but it would be ace if schools became vegetarian entirely. Like surely they could save on ingredients then and get new climbing frames or something. 😇

I do find the “I’ll eat this but not that” thing quite odd with my fellow meat eaters tbh.

There’s no truly ethical way to eat meat - something dies whatever type of meat it is. I’ll accept not eating a particular type of meat because you don’t like the taste or the texture - I’m not a big fan of the taste of pork, so I don’t eat it.
But when I’ve been travelling, I’ll try whatever is the cultural norm in any given country. I’ve eaten horse, shark, rabbit, snake, alligator, zebra, ostrich, kangaroo, loads of animals we wouldn’t ordinarily eat in western countries. We’ve familiarised certain animals in western countries whereas in other parts of the world, those animals are seen as a food source 🤷🏻‍♀️

Halal just means allowed. Its not restricted to meat.

Whilst also ensuring that we put others before ourselves and suppress our own feelings, wants or beliefs? I should be about mutual respect and work both ways.

Perhaps use your knowledge then to set people straight. What sort of disinformation is currently circulating?