| By Naazish YarKhan
 How mainstream is Halal meat becoming? If making it to the menus at Dining Services at plenty of American universities is a yardstick, perhaps it won't be too long before Halal meat graces every grocery store freezer or deli. Harvard University, Syracuse University, University of Connecticut, Cornell University, Boston University and Dartmouth College are just a few of the schools whose dining services offer Halal meat. At Dartmouth College, University Dining Services began offering Halal meals in 2001 with an American menu, based on foods they were able to purchase at the time. The menu has since then developed into a delicious South East Asian and Middle Eastern one revolving around lamb, chicken and ground beef. Some common dishes include Kahra Masala Lamb, Chicken Dopiazo, Spicy Tandoori Chicken and Lamb Punjabi with sides such as Washed Basmatti Rice, Curry Rice & Peas and Indian Pilau Rice. Most of Dartmouth College's Halal cooking involves a large amount of "hands on" work. They buy a lot of the fresh herbs and spices and hand grind them. At Boston University, Halal meals were made available only as recently as October 2005, during the month of Ramadan with the exception of weekends. Those partaking of it, however, weren't just those enrolled at BU. By the time Ramadan drew to a close, Dining Services here decided to keep the meal plan afloat year round. How did Muslim students at BU and Dartmouth pull it off?
Some Halal meal programs are more consistent through the years than others, but they all go to show that even small groups of Muslims committed to Halal food can influence the courses served. So what exactly is involved in getting a university kitchen to go Halal? Halal Digest talked to Mr. Yasir Bugrara (ENG’06), the Ameer, or President, of Boston University’s Islamic Society and to Mr. Robert Lester, Pavilion Manager at Dartmouth College to find out.
At Dartmouth College, the Pavilion is a dining facility designed to follow both Halal and Kosher dietary laws, under one roof. With both disciplines, there is strict separation in the storage, preparation and service of each menu. However, there is a "common" place for everyone to eat "together". The Pavilion had a "soft" opening in November 2001; we served lunch and dinner, Monday through Friday. Customer counts the first year were 50 people each day. We still have the same operating hours during 2005/2006; however, we currently serve 450-500 people per day. When you think that Dartmouth currently has approximately 50 members of Al Nur, 450 members of Hillel, you can quickly see that the majority of the Pavilion's customers are not eating Halal food because they 'should'. They are eating it because they 'like it' ", says Mr. Lester, Pavilion Manager at Dartmouth College.
Mr. Yasir Bugrara is the president of Boston University’s Islamic Society (ISBU). "We had weekly Halal meals for the year previous to my term. This was in place for one year before we approached the BU administration (for Halal dinners in Ramadan). There was tremendous demand. There were many Muslims on campus that kept participating in the Halal dining meals...30 plus people per dining meal," says Mr. Bugrara.
Originally during Ramadan, members of the Islamic Society at Boston University, made arrangements for an on-campus Iftaar (the meal with which to end the daily fast) with local restaurants that served Halal food. In 2005 with the University Dining Services stepping in with full-service Halal dinners, instead of doing the organizing themselves, Muslims just needed to "show up" for dinner after they'd completed the day’s fast. "The Islamic Society of BU was very involved in moving the University to provide Halal meals during Ramadan. We had approached the Dean of Students to try to transform our weekly Halal meals into a daily iftaar event. Allowing the University to cater our Halal food allowed students to use their dining meals and saved the Islamic Society a great deal of money in providing the daily Iftaars," says Mr. Bugrara.
He speaks highly of BU's interest in a Halal meals program. "It was very easy for us to approach the administration. They were very open and very supportive of the Muslim community. They were excited at the prospect of helping the ISBU."
The meal was served between Maghrib and Isha prayers and was available to all students who are on the meal plan. "Because the University Dining hall required everyone (even Muslims) at the door to pay for a dining meal, non-Muslims were not exempt from participating in our daily Ramadan Iftaars. Students who purchased Iftaar tickets had the same access to dining hall food and meals as any other student," says Bugrara. An Iftaar meal was the regular menu BU offers all its students but the meat entrée was Halal. "A night BU offers pork, or anything non-Halal, they devise a different menu for us adhering to the Islamic dietary guidelines," Mr. Bugrara points out.
As for those who weren't students at BU or weren't on the meal plan, the Islamic Society did some fundraising so that it could sell discounted meal tickets to those interested. In an interview with the campus paper, Dining Services director Josh Hubbard said, “We wanted to make sure it wasn’t exclusionary. There’s been a wonderful cross-section of the Islamic community that comes and eats with us.”
Mr. Hubbard, according to the report says, “This has been a real benefit to the community and something we want to keep in place. We want to make sure that all the good work that’s been done here doesn’t get lost”, referring to Dining Services' decision to continue with Halal meals throughout the year.
"We have expanded the menu and quality of the Halal dining meals after Ramadan. However, ISBU is planning on changing the number of days Halal dining occurs in the upcoming year," adds Mr. Bugrara.
Mr. Lester echoes Mr. Hubbard's sentiments. "The Pavilion is only open right now from September to June. We are closed during the summer months. However, we do work with the students that are keeping Halal in other ways so they do not have to go without," he adds.
"What advice does he have for universities looking to implement a Halal menu? "Just do it! It's fairly easy to implement. The customers receive a higher quality of end product. You will find that the Muslim community will be very helpful in answering your questions and very appreciative of the availability. The only hurdle that I found was locating and setting up Halal food deliveries to Hanover, New Hampshire in October 2001. We currently do not experience any problems with our Halal deliveries. Although I have no actual numbers to justify the direct relationship of student enrollment to Halal dining, I can tell you that this was built into the original business plan. It surely has not hindered admissions enrollment at all."
WANT HALAL MEALS AT YOUR SCHOOL?
To-Do List
- Show them the numbers. "There was tremendous demand. There were many Muslims on campus that kept participating in the Halal dining meals. This was seen in the numbers that showed up at the Halal dining meals - 30 plus people per dining meal," says Yasir Bugrara.
- Establish good relationships.
- Understand that the university is a business looking to make a profit. "Do not expect them to throw themselves on the table for you," says Yasir. "You must be willing to compromise if needed". For Suhoor, for instance, students may need to get food the night before from the dining hall or pick up boxed Halal meals if Maghrib in Ramadan doesn't coincide with dinner time at the Dining Services Halls.
- If 30 consecutive days (in Ramadan) are too much, start small: work something out for a couple of days a week. It took ISBU a year to get where they were able to convince the administration that there was high demand for daily Ramadan iftaars.
- See if there is a Muslim Chaplain who can help make your case.
- The Muslim community could assist in identifying a reliable, economically viable Halal meat supplier.
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The Commonwealth of Virginia recently passed a state law aimed at protecting Muslim consumers from Halal food fraud. The law went into effect on July 1, 2006. Sponsored by Del. Kenneth C. Alexander, D-Norfolk, the Halal Food Bill mandates all businesses that advertise products being sold as Halal, must verify that they are indeed Halal.
This is what is understood by the context of the Hadith since the answer of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to the question was, 'Say Bismillah and eat.' It is as though they (the questioners) were told, 'That is not your concern, rather what should concern you is to consume it (wholesomely in the Sunnah manner) by saying Bismillah before partaking thereof.' (Fathul Bari vol. 9, pg.793, Qadeemi)
