to be very suprised at the school letter about Halal meat?

[fromparistoberlin]

opended DS bag and read a letter with a voting slip basically saying

alot of parents have asked for Halal meat (fair enough)
The school dinner providers can only do Halal OR non-Halal (erm we are in London, slightly surpised)

so we either vote for ALL Halal, or non Halal

so basically an ethical dilemna!

Vote A, feel like a bigot

Vote B, feel slightly uncomfortable that something I dont really fully understand is being imposed

I am going to write and say this is a really unfair way to handle it and they should fucking change suppliers, we are in London FFS

nice little ethical mind fuck THANKS school!

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

Veggie doesn't cater for everyone, and it passes me off when people say that. Large numbers of under 5s have relatively under developed bowel systems and can't cope with how high fibre a healthy veggie diet is. My DD is also allergic to dairy.

Poor decision by the school imo. Putting an all or nothing decision on the parents is likely to cause division

Anyway, I like hungry clocks' uni solution.

[LadyIsabellaWrotham]

Our school used to use halal meat (significant Muslim minority in intake) but it became too expensive - Muslim kids now have to take the veggie option. I can see the school's problem.

[fromparistoberlin]

HungryClocksGoBackFourSeconds

Thats a great idea! ie having only Halal chicken, I will suggest that I think thats a potential compromise

but I am going to say its not fair to make us choose, as there are so many other religions at his school

But I guess Muslim is majority

errgggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!! headfuck i dont need

[squeakytoy]

Is taking a packed lunch not another option too?

[ditavonteesed]

no way would my children be eating halal meat. so it would be a no or a pack up, but the school do need to prvide a halal meal especially I would have thought in london. Does the halal meal need to be the same as the non halal meal though. I work in a hospital and we obviously provide halal food, but it isnt an alternative version of what is on the menu it is a seperate menu.

[MortifiedAdams]

What difference does it make to your DCs to eat Halal meat? None.

And I am totally anti-religion.

I workin a Hotel chain, and all meat is Halal.

[GruffaloAteMySocks]

I wish people would actually do some research before they crow about how cruel Halal is (whilst ignoring Kosher meat completely and conveniently.) Even theRSPCA which dislikes Halal slaughter when the animal is not stunned beforehand, point out that the MAJORITY of Halal meat is stunned before having it's throat slit, which is NO different to how animals are normally slaughtered.

Halal does NOT automatically mean that every single animal has it's throat slit whilst it's fully conscious.

[Yamyoid]

All meat is Halal at my ds's school. It's never even occurred to me to be bothered. Most animals bred for food have a shit life, I think Halal meat isn't any worse, there are still guidelines to adhere to to minimise suffering (afaik).

[Yamyoid]

Here here Gruffalo.

[fromparistoberlin]

mortified

true, very true

But for me its a principled thing as essentially in a very ethnically diverse school, its allowing a majority view to impose and its quite a big deal

what about Hindus, Sikks, CoE, RC, Buddhists, Jews etc????

thats what I mean aboiut at making me feel like a bigot as I am really looking into me reaction, its NOT a nice feeling

but yeh, its a chicken burger essentially!

[purits]

I work in a Hotel chain, and all meat is Halal.

How do you do a full cooked breakfast - sausages, bacon etc - that is halal?

[Vatta]

The methods used to kill animals for halal meat are much less humane than the methods used to kill animals in "mainstream" abattoirs. A lot of meat-eaters won't eat halal for ethical reasons, just like a lot of people won't eat battery eggs etc.

It would be fairer to go for a compromise as suggested up the thread, eg halal chicken for those that want it.

[TerrysAllGold]

If you trust what the RSPCA says you're opening up a whole other can of worms, Gruffalo. Take a look at what they find acceptable as a "freedom food". Some of that is almost unbelievable!

There's plenty of research into the issue of halal and Kosher meat out there and plenty of non-promotional video evidence of the cruelty too, much of which is taken covertly and is the sort of stuff the promoters of a particular faith or of the meat trade don't want you to see. I wish people would actually look at that before they crow about how acceptable slaughter is.

[tangstar]

I don't mind eating Halal and just as well as I live in a muslim country. There is no way I would expect them to provide non-halal for my dcs at school!

If I wanted my dcs to eat non-halal I would have to send them with a packed lunch (would have to be veggie or imported meat).

Surely it should work the other way around too?

[GruffaloAteMySocks]

Yamoyid Cheers.

I completely agree that Halal meat that is not stunned before slaughter needs to be labeled too, but I find that too often this anti-Halal backlash uses the animal rights issues as a cover for Islamophobia. I have yet to see anyone complain about Halal and Kosher slaughter, when they are the same bloody thing.

[ditavonteesed]

why re chickens always bottom of the pecking order (see what i did there) for welfare issues.

[gordyslovesheep]

Tangstar you kids can eat halal meat though ...Muslim kids can't eat none halal meat

[ditavonteesed]

my kids dont eat kosher meat either.

[tangstar]

But my point is that I do not expect to be catered for.

[MamaMumra]

What gruffalo says.

[GruffaloAteMySocks]

TerryAllGold It's not just the RSPCA the FSA also record that the majority of Halal meat is pre-stunned as well, their more recent figures say it's 80% of all Halal meat. Here.

[Vatta]

Gruffalo, I agree with some of what you say, i don't think people generally pick up on kosher as much as halal food, but they're prepared in very similar ways.

Have to say though, personally I wouldn't eat halal or kosher food, and I'd guess the OP would have similar concerns if the school was suggesting an all-kosher menu.

[MortifiedAdams]

purits Pork is off-limits so I suppose I should qualify it by saying all meat that can be Halal is.

Though we do have turkey bacon if requested and vegetarian sausages.

OP, you ask why Halal and what about those of.other religions - simple: other religions dont require food to.be killed in a certain way so them eating Halal doesnt contravene their religion. Eating non-Halal food does contravene some peoples religion.

[ConferencePear]

I would be voting no to halal food. I am very concerned about the way we treat animals anyway and this just seems to be a step in the wrong direction.
Chicken would not solve the problem for me because I eat hardly any chicken at all because I'm unhappy about the way it is produced and the young age at which it is killed.