A group of British schools have decided to ban pork from meals served to students, citing “cultural” and “religious” reasons to drop traditional sausages and ham from children’s lunches as reported in UK’s well known newspaper Daily Telegraph.
Haringey, north London has issued “best practice” advice to all schools in its area to “ban all pork products in order to cater for the needs of staff and pupils who are not permitted contact with these for religious reasons,” the Daily Telegraph reported.
The new decision was issued by Haringey council banning pork from school dinners even where the majority of parents have no religious objection to it.
Citing cultural and religious reasons, head teachers decided to drop traditional sausages and ham from children’s lunches.
The guidance does not specify what proportion of a school’s intake should object to the meat – which is not eaten by devout Muslims or Jews – before it is dropped.
Pabulum, a school caterer in south-east England, said that around 20 of the 48 primary schools it supplied chose only non-pork lunches.
Most serve no halal or kosher meat, however, so many Muslim or Jewish pupils would not be able to eat the dishes anyway.
In Luton, 23 out of 57 schools which contract their dinners from the local authority have a “no pork” policy.
In Bradford the figure is 24 out of 160; in Newham, east London, it is 25 out of 75; in Tower Hamlets, east London, it is 85 out of 90. In Haringey’s infant, junior and primary schools, 37 out of 47 serve no pork.
At Cypress Junior School, in Croydon, south London, Nicky Godetz, the head teacher, announced in this month’s newsletter that the school had opted for a pork-free menu “as a result of pupil and parental feedback”.
“The sausages served will now be chicken rather than pork,” she added.
Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority, estimated at nearly 2.5 million.
According to the Islamic and Jewish ritual, the animal is slaughtered by a sharp blade.
Muslims should only eat Halal meat from livestock slaughtered by a sharp knife from their necks, and the name of Allah must be mentioned.