To expect my daughter to have access to non halal meat

[Bushmillsbabe]

My daughters school now has only halal meat available for their school lunches.

I personally do not wish my child to have halal meat, I think its more cruel than other slaughter methods, however this thread is not intended to debate which is worse/better.

She is dairy and gluten intolerant, and her safe options tended to be things like roast chicken, the vegetarian options usually contain dairy. The pork sausages contain gluten so she would have the chicken sausages, she also eats burgers and meatballs but these are now also halal.

So if I don't give her halal meat, she is left with jacket potato with beans every day, which she does eat, but doesn't want to have every day.

I fully respect that Muslim parents wish their child to have halal meat, but am I wrong in thinking my dietary preferences for my daughter should also be respected and she should have access to non halal meat?

I think YABU. We are not a Muslim country. I also don’t want to eat halal and it gave me a final push to turn vegetarian/vegan recently.

Sorry meant and voted YANBU

Yabu.

Even if it wasn't halal, do you think schools serve up organic, free range hand reared meat....?

If you care so much about animal welfare, go veggie.

This is political correctness gone mad.

I suspect you’re being disingenuous over the “more cruel” aspect. Did you check on the conditions that the non halal chickens were kept in before letting her eat it?

I think eating cheap school meat is a wider problem if you are concerned about animal cruelty.
Either you care about all animal cruelty, or you don’t. But it’s not organic free range meat either way

If you expect the school to buy in a separate supply of meat for the tiny minority who won't eat halal, I'd be interested to know how much you'd be willing to pay for her school dinners?

There’s a big difference between a dietary preference and a diary need.
You would prefer that your DC doesn’t eat halal, she has a need to not eat diary or gluten (I’m assuming she has medically diagnosed allergies). With regards to school dinners, her choice will be very limited as a result of your preference.
What solution would you want the school to come up with - because buying non halal meat definitely won’t be one of them I’m guessing.

If you're OK with eating dead animals then a small difference in how they are slaughtered really shouldn't be a problem.

YANBU.

We are not a Muslim country so why is halal the default?

Why isn't there one halal option?

There is a non-halal meat option - the pork sausages. You could always ask if there is a gluten free version of that available?

I do think there should be at least one non-halal meat option available, but realistically schools have limited budgets so it’s difficult to cater for personal preferences (as opposed to dietary requirements)

Give her a packed lunch if you’re not happy? Not everything needs to be a big fight! No school meat is from well cared for animals

Totally agree.

Cost.

Given the majority of parents are ok with their kids eating halal meat, it make sense to go with the majority.

My school only had halal meat, hasn’t done me any harm.

School meals are not providing high quality, ethically sourced meat regardless of what label gets put on the package. You should just let your daughter eat the food that she can and wants to eat.

Send a packed lunch.

You'll die when you hear how non-halal meat lives before it is murdered.

We have the opposite, we don’t eat pork but are not Muslim so sometimes the options are only halal chicken, pork or vegetarian and my son gets told he isn’t allowed the children because he is “not halal” which is annoying as he often doesn’t like the vegetarian option. I think he should be allowed the halal.

Muslim children eat the pescetarian options at my school. We don't offer halal meat.

You should ask for the vegetarian option to cater to her other dietary needs.

I live in the middle east, where meat is just meat. You either eat it or you don't.

When you fly with Emirates, Qatar, Etihad etc all meals are halal.

You are being ridiculous.

She is dairy and gluten free, which puts a massive restriction on vegetarian options, but there are meat options available to her.

You are objecting to the manner in which which it’s slaughtered because you think it’s less humane. None of it is humane.

Don’t you think the conditions animals are kept in for supplying catering firms with affordable meat are ALL horrible? This isn’t outdoor reared free range stuff.

Either care about the welfare of animals in farming and send your daughter in with a packed lunch of ethically reared and slaughtered meat, or admit you don’t really care about the quality of life and let her have school dinners. (Or find gluten free vegan options)

The final few seconds of life is nothing compared to the whole life up to that point. The fuss about Halal meat is Islamophobia masquerading as concern for animal welfare.

This really isn't some great conspiracy to turn us into a Muslim country.

Like a pp said, it'll be about cost.

sounds like there might well be only one halal option, but that tends to be the option which is safest for OP daughter given allergies, for example she can't have sausages which are typically not halal but also typically contain gluten. She can't have most veggie options (no halal meat there) due to often having dairy.

I agree with PP, that if animal welfare is such a strong concern then the battery farmed meat and eggs that will be part of school lunch are not going to be acceptable.