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?

Love the idea that you think the non halal meat available for cheap school meals is organic, free range and the animals are all knitted jumpers to keep them warm. Then they are sung lullabies as they gently rock them to death.
Cheap meat is cheap meat.

If you gave a tiny shit about animal welfare you wouldn't be eating meat at all. So it's not about that.

All methods of slaughter are cruel. making a big fuss and forcing school to use halal meat and non halal for those who only pretend to care about animals when it comes to halal will increase costs for the school.

I have my own suspicions about why people generally object to halal but have no problem eating non halal.

I think the school shoukd do a consultation with all parents /children. And make sure there are healthy choices that are veggie every day as these are greener.

Most abattoirs are Halal now. It means the meat can be sold anywhere.

I doubt any of the animals used for school meals have had a good life tbh - no it wouldn't bother me but we don't eat meat

If she has an intolerance she should be able to get a special menu. I agree with you i work in a very diverse school and Muslim families have NO issue with their children either having the veggie or potato / pasta option. I think it's offered because most people don't realise that the animals are not stunned before slaughter so are happy to just eat it. Remember most takeaways and lots of restaurant chains use halal meat.

We have a lot of Sikh families in our school who generally don't eat halal meat so we only have one halal meat option (usually chicken or lamb) and then a non-halal option (usually turkey if the chicken was halal or beef).

Also a vegetarian option, and if it's fish day then that works for most meat eaters other than personal taste.

It's not inclusive to only offer halal so presumably down to cost.

For those saying it’s a small thing, I’ve witnessed halal and kosher slaughter of cattle. There’s a structure at the base of the brain in cattle called the Ring of Willis which gives an extra blood supply to the brain. When the throat is cut without first stunning it takes a lot longer for the animal to die whilst remaining conscious.
People can decide if they want to eat meat which had that prolonged death process.
If it’s school meals I guess there an option to have packed lunches.

At primary school, I had a cheese sandwich every single day, with the occasional pizza. I was veggie. Looking back feels like neglect

I voted yabu because I think all the meat used in schools is not likely to be high welfare. It seems strange to draw the line at the meat being halal while being OK with the rest of it not being high welfare

Depends. Is it veal, and has it been washed?

I remember in secondary school my only option used to be a salad sandwich. An iceberg lettuce sandwich with white bread.

Surely eating children is not halal whatever religion you are 😄

I’ve also seen slaughter with captive bolt first before bleeding and time to unconsciousness and death is very quick.

There are still certain welfare standards which need to be met in this country, the Halal process is adapted to meet these.

but as others have said really if worried about quality of meat don’t get school dinners! They are as cheap as they can be to feed hundreds on a budget

There has been a lot of moaning about halal meat on social media this weekend. Why?

Chickens are generally stunned before bleeding, with halal chickens they are not stunned.

As far as I am aware, there is no real difference between halal and non-halal in the slaughtering process of large-scale slaughter houses where most of our meat is processed - other than the halal plants playing the requisite prayer on a continuous loop.

This. Halal doesn't automatically mean more cruel.

I thought school served halal as standard these days

I've got a farming/agriculture background & have worked in abbatoirs.

To be honest the way the animal is raised is more important. There is very little difference in suffering when it comes to slaughter & it certainly isn't the case that halal meat is cruel.

If you want to be more ethical with meat at home avoid chicken for definite & stick to British lamb or organic British beef.

YANBU. The overwhelming majority of people in the UK do not need/want halal meat.

The idea that "well if we make it halal everyone can still eat it!" is utterly daft. By that standard why don't they make everything vegan? We can all (allergies excepted) eat that too. But that wouldn't happen, would it? Because then the meat eaters would would argue (rightly) that it's their right to consume meat.

This should be no different. No one should have to eat a meal that comprises elements they are morally opposed to eating.

This is the UK. The majority of citizens in the UK eat meat, and they don't need or want that meat to be specially killed following a religious practice that the overwhelming majority do not follow. It is actually in conflict with other religions to serve diets only targeted at one religion. Jewish people don't eat pork, but no one is stopping making pork avaliable as standard, despite the fact no one else needs to eat pork.

Those with restrictive diets that are not in line with what the majority needs and wants should, of course, be provided with food they can eat in institutions run by the government.

Those foods do not need to be the default when they are in conflict with the views of many other UK residents.

Do you have the option of giving her a packed lunch?

If you care about animal suffering you wouldn’t be allowing you child to eat cheap meat.