Hawzah News Agency (California, US) –As a freshman at UC Santa Cruz, Musa Dajani couldn’t find anything to eat at the dining hall. There was plenty to eat, but none of it was halal food — a campus-wide problem for Muslim students, until a change in dining menus this year.
“We’re paying $1,000 to eat on campus. It’s not fair that we can’t access much of that food,” said Dajani, a student who practices Islam.
Halal is an Arabic word that means “permissible.” The term mainly pertains to meat, but can also be applied to other food products, cosmetics, personal care products and pharmaceuticals. For something to be considered permissible, the animal from which it came from must be well-treated and raised in a humane way.
“The animal shouldn’t see other animals being slaughtered,” said Dajani.
For meat to be halal certified, the animal must be killed under specific guidelines. According to Dajani, the animal must be killed by a sane adult Muslim and he or she must say the name of God. The animal must be slaughtered by cutting the throat with one continuous motion of a sharp knife. The cut must sever at least three of the following: the trachea, oesophagus and the two blood vessels on either side of the throat. The spinal cord can’t be cut.
Dajani thought he would have to become a vegetarian when he started at UCSC. Off-campus options are limited too. Safeway’s Open Nature brand and Falafel of Santa Cruz are the only two places Dajani knows that provide halal food.
“When you’re moving into a new environment, it makes the transition to college more difficult,” he said.
The first halal foods at UCSC were hamburgers and other beef products. Last year, halal food was “spotty, maybe once a week” in the dining halls, Dajani said.
This academic year, the school’s two cafes, Banana Joe’s and Owl’s Nest, started serving halal burgers regularly. Dining staff has asked students what types of food they recommend and have allowed students to taste test before making it, according to Dajani. Now, there are other halal food served, including chicken tenders, chicken thighs, beef chili, beef steak and chicken pizza.
Dajani, now a third-year student, is one of around 45 members of the Muslim Student Association on campus. President Shyann Khan and Treasurer Abir Rashid are two students who spearheaded the initiative to make more halal food available. They met with dining hall employees and spoke to staff about the limited options, and also met with a vice chancellor.
“It was becoming a bigger and bigger problem. We wanted to address it and see what happens,” said Khan.
UCSC dining has also made other changes to the menu to accommodate Muslim students.
According to Rashid, there is now an icon for halal food on the menu, similar to a sign for vegan and gluten-free options. She said dining is also taking wine out of certain dishes because Muslim students can’t consume it.
“They’re currently working with the meat vendor to make it all halal,” said Rashid. “A fully halal menu won’t make it harder for other students.” Khan said halal food tastes the same, but it is prepared differently and anyone can eat it.
Dajani said UCSC is one of the first schools to serve halal food. “This is the way you should do it if you’re going to implement it,” he said. He hopes the dining halls will expand their options and provide healthier food for the students.
“Maybe eventually all the meat will be halal,” he said.
According to the Salaam Global Islamic Economic Gateway, Columbia, Boston University, the University of Houston, Texas, Stanford and UCLA, are a few other American universities that also provide halal food.
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