To absolutely loathe the increase in smear campaigns against businesses because of the halal meat debate?

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Well it’s not really a debate, is it? You either don’t care, or you’re absolutely seething because your meat may or may not be halal. But irrespectively of what you think about this, AIBU to think that people ‘outing’ businesses on social media about what meat they use and encouraging hundreds of people to smear them not just in posts but reviews to tank their ratings is just crazy?

Hundreds of people commenting ‘I’ve just left them a bad review on google’ because a (British owned baked potato) business extended their trading hours to their Muslim customers? People who have never bought anything from them in their life, probably geographically will never go there. Actively trying to sabotage a business because you think you’re what - some sort of activist?

And don’t get me started on the posts where people reach out to these poor customer service reps in supermarkets to ask them if the meat they sell is halal because of this mad narrative that ‘80% of supermarket meat is halal’ - where has this nonsense come from?!?! 😂 People screenshotting and commenting about how ‘Clare from Lidl’ is avoiding the question when she probably doesn’t have a scooby and the answer probably isn’t a straight yes or no either!

Madness. Utter madness. People treating this like it’s a full time job.

As a veggie atheist this doesn’t affect me directly but I don’t understand why they can’t just label all the meat? They should know where it comes from anyway (and if not that’s a bigger problem!) and at least people will have all the information and choose to buy it or not.

Nobody should be harassing retail staff or leaving false reviews, that goes without saying.

I haven’t noticed this . Almost every take away where I’m from has that they serve halal meat on the menu and no one seems to care . I mean anyone who is eating meat full stop shouldn’t kid themselves by thinking the animals are looked after well or killed humanely regardless of whether the meat is halal or not .

You're being unreasonable to say that there isn't a debate. It's absolutely possible to reasonably question whether halal and kosher slaughtering methods cause unnecessary suffering.

Whilst I agree (I'm veggie), this debate is predominantly driven by racism. Most the people kicking up a fuss don't give a toss about animal welfare.

We had standard practices to reduce suffering during slaughter. They probably weren’t adequate. They needed to be increased, not reduced. That’s my concern. If it can be demonstrated that they haven’t lost best practice people would be accepting, I think.

Do people claim to be able to taste the difference? There are places I won’t eat from because I dislike the flavour, and they seem to be halal.

This spud bros thing is hilarious. I think they’re arseholes because they charged £15 for a potato at Silverstone, but the people complaining that a potato is halal are hysterical.

People seem far more outraged about halal than kosher food. Funny that...

It sounds insane and horrible. As far as I have noticed, there isn't a 'halal debate' at all in the real world. I'd noticed some threads on MN, but what you say in your OP makes me realise that those threads are a spillover from an obsession on social media.

It seems reasonable to assume that this 'debate' is just a proxy for Islamophobia, and also that it hasn't risen organically but has been seeded by racists and Islamophobes.

It is shocking.

I haven’t noticed this debate IRL or much online, but I don’t doubt that a lot of the noise is down to racism.

On the other hand, some people are concerned about animal welfare, and wish to know how the animals have been treated.

I don’t know if there are religious concerns, from people who are not Muslim, but do have another religion?

The answer seems to be clear labelling, surely.

Well, quite. The same people who make a fuss about halal would lose their heads if a fuss was made about kosher slaughter.

I thought this was going to be about the Sikh man I’ve seen on twitter whose restaurant had eggs thrown at it. He’s since had people travelling to visit him specifically.

There isn’t a debate in real life as people automatically get labelled racist for saying they don’t eat halal or kosher for ethical reasons.
im veggie, my family are not, we don’t eat anywhere that serves either.

How do you know that?

While I don’t doubt that Islamophobia is behind some of this, there could also be more of a focus on halal from some because it’s more widespread than kosher. The Muslim population in the UK is a lot bigger than the Jewish population, so more of a financial incentive for businesses to use halal meat than kosher.

I know many people who have an issue with halal but they really couldn’t care less about animal welfare. In fact they have mocked me for being vegan, told me I’m mad for caring about animals, buy cheap meat, cheap eggs, laughed at videos watching how foie gras is produced etc.

I’ve been in slaughterhouses and a lot of animals don’t get stunned before being killed because it’s such as rushed, chaotic and stressful environment. And unfortunately some of the staff really don’t care and some are even are cruel.
Not stunning isn’t just an issue with halal meat. Also something like 80% of halal meat is stunned now in the UK.

As a vegan, I hate this industry as a whole, but I don’t believe this is an issue about animal welfare, it’s a hatred of Muslims unfortunately and I’ve no time for that.

Because the same types who are making this fuss (most prominent right wing commentators) are the same ones who cry anti-Semitism anytime they don’t like what’s being said.

I would like meat to be labelled as Halal or not.

People might assume I would be avoiding Halal meat for racist reasons but it’s not that. I choose meat labelled as free range & pay extra for reasons connected to animal cruelty, nothing to do with race or religion.

I understand some will see that as hypocritical seeing as I’m choosing to eat meat when I could be vegetarian but that’s my stance 🤷🏼‍♀️

I grew up in a Jewish area and there were kosher butchers and restaurants but they were independent ones you could avoid. Halal is a bigger issue to avoid as it is more widespread and more mainstream, with places like five guys, subway, Pizza Hut having halal shops.

I saw those posts and I first wondered if it was fake.

food - another thing to argue about.

Kosher is crueller than halal though. Kosher explicitly bans the stunning of animals, while halal allows it. If you’re eating meat I don’t see how you can want to avoid halal when its all just as bad.

I don’t eat meat but my family do. So we don’t eat anywhere that serves either.

I think it’s real tbh. He’s had videos with the police in too. I think too many things to be fake.

What do you mean by ‘types’?

And how do you know they’re the same?

In my RL experience people have a range of views, not one homogenous grab-bag of accepted opinions they swallow whole, unthinkingly. I do see that kind of approach online, it seems to be associated with identifying with left-wing progressive views, and is seen more in younger people, from what I can see.

I mean the GB News, reform voting types. The same types who bend over backwards to defend Trump et al and label any criticism of Israel as anti semitism while saying the most horrendous things about Muslims and their religious practices.

I don’t think it’s true at all that people who eat meat don’t care about the welfare of animal husbandry and slaughter. I eat meat and care about how the animals are treated. I want its suffering minimised before it dies. I don’t accept that as it will die anyway, we shouldn’t care how it suffers before hand.

Some will see that as hypocritical. I understand that. That’s ok. It’s a view I came to decades ago after a few years of being vegetarian and coming back to eating meat and I’m happy with my stance.

Yes, this absolutely is what gives the game away that preoccupation with halal slaughter is about racism and Islamophobia, not animals. The whole 'meat landscape' in our supermarkets relies on keeping costs down, minimising animal welfare and turning a blind eye to vile practices in slaughterhouses.
Animal welfare at slaughter would be vastly more improved just by ensuring that the spirit and the letter of welfare legislation is adhered to. But I don't doubt that the regulatory regime is underfunded and happy to turn two blind eyes to their mates in the industry, just as regulators in other sectors (the water industry, etc) have done.

If you are worried about animal welfare, act conscientiously in an evidence-based way, rather than posturing about religious slaughter online. If you can afford it, buy more expensive high-welfare meat; if you can't, then just buy less meat (better for you) or none.