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!

[WhatKindofFool]

All slaughter of animals is barbaric in my view. I'm not convinced that Halal is any worse. Stunning animals looks pretty cruel to me too.

[EuroShaggleton]

I'd vote no on an animal welfare basis.

[WhatKindofFool]

I've been around an abattoir. It was truly sickening. It was not Halal.

[mrsjay]

It would just be chicken and lamb wouldnt it I dont think halal meat eaters eat cow ? could they just not have the chicken halal TBh meat is meat unless you are veggie then I dont see halal an issue,

[mrsjay]

I'd vote no on an animal welfare basis.

no you really think cows are hugged before their brain is fried with a stun gun

[Andro]

Hmm, AFAIK there are other faiths for who's practitioners eating meat that has been prepared according to another faith's rituals would be inappropriate (I may be wrong though, it's a while since I studied this). To vote in favour would be to put the request of one faith group above other groups...as such I would personally vote against.

[Sokmonsta]

I thought halal was about the blessing as well as method of slaughter, hence why kosher and halal are not the same?

Places like prisons manage halal/kosher/veggie relatively well so I fail to see how it is a problem for the school, unless they are buying in ready made meals and not storing produce to be cooked. Perhaps we need to go back to school kitchens being fully equipped to store and prepare food instead of reheating what gets sent round in the van!

[Purple2012]

Whatever happens you can't win.

Parents vote for halal - non halal voter contacts local paper saying his children are having another religions ideals forced on them.

Parents vote for non halal - halal voter contacts local paper saying majority of school is racist.

I think having a few options is the right thing to do,it is wrong to force one group to eat something they don't want or to make it impossible to be able to eat a school dinner. What about the kids who have free school meals. Taking a packed lunch would not be an option for them.

[ChubbyKitty]

After seeing a video by accident of some pigs that I do not wish to describe further I would have to go with no halal.

If a family wants halal meat then that is their choice and they're welcome to eat it but I draw the line at being forced to eat it myself.

[ChubbyKitty]

• I think they were pigs although couldn't actually be 100% sure. Does halal meat even include pigs?
  
  Still. Replace any animal in the video and it would cause the same reaction for me.

[HazleNutt]

No pigs are not halal, no matter how they are killed.

[ophelia275]

Why would you be a bigot if you vote A? Would those voting for halal be bigots if they vote for B?

[ChubbyKitty]

Ah right okay. I've learnt something today

[OddBoots]

Interestingly around here it has been Halal meat in schools but they have just stopped that due to the recent contamination issues. They say there is nothing to indicate that meals supplied have been contaminated by pork or non-halal meat but as a precaution they do not any longer offer it as an option.

I'm not sure if they are worried about being sued or if the Muslim families don't trust it so aren't eating it anyway.

[HoHoHoNoYouDont]

I agree with a veggie only option as suggested up thread.

[Vatta]

Gruffalo, you're right of course, I'm being a bit lazy referring to halal and kosher without distinguishing between Pre-stunned and not. There should definitely be labelling so people can make an informed choice

[honeytea]

I think if you vote for no halal meat then you should also avoid places where they only serve halal meat like take away places run by Muslim people.

[HoHoHoNoYouDont]

Some time ago I read that KFC are fully Halal. This concerned me as I don't like the slaughter method. KFC state the animal is slaughtered in the usual way but a prayer is said over it which was a relief to read. Is this not that what most abattoirs do? Surely if not it goes against some kind of animal cruelty legislation otherwise????

[HoHoHoNoYouDont]

I think if you vote for no halal meat then you should also avoid places where they only serve halal meat like take away places run by Muslim people.

Or perhaps all establishments should cater for everyone.

[Anthracite]

My DD's school has halal chicken only. All other meat is non-halal.

[Chickensarmpit]

I would vote no and i wouldn't care if i was called a bigot. Halal is not for me and many other people and we shouldn't have to explain ourselves nor fear that we would be called bigots.

I ate in a subway awhile back and i was annoyed when i found out i had eaten Halal meat, it should be labelled properly.

[StuntGirl]

"I think if you vote for no halal meat then you should also avoid places where they only serve halal meat like take away places run by Muslim people."

Don't most people who are against halal do this anyway?

[lljkk]

I think fish is usually halal? My Bengali neighbours ate massive quantities of fish.

[firawla]

yes fish is all halal anyway

those people making outraged comments about my child will never eat halal meat - you do realise a massive amount of the meat for sale in the uk is actually halal. not always labelled as such. for eg if you eat new zealand lamb, its pretty much all halal slaughtered

[TheRealFellatio]

I think most caterers who supply schools/hospitals/public sector workplaces in large citied with a significant Jewish or Muslim populace use halal/kosher by default now, to save any aggravation. It's impractical and costly to serve both and most non-Muslim/Jewish people don't care/know either way how their meat is slaughtered and are happy to eat either.

I know a few Muslims in the UK who call themselves vegetarian when out and about in order to make sure they avoid haram foods, but they eat halal meat when at home or with other Muslims.

I suppose it's all about the numbers in any given situation. the majority wins.