Federal
Government Subsidizes Halal Food in Public Schools
by Johanna Markind
PJ Media
August 28, 2015
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In recent years, three American public school districts have provided
taxpayer-supported lunches meeting Muslim students' dietary standards. They
have not similarly provided lunches satisfying any other students'
religious standards. The halal foods purchased with public funds are
costlier than comparable non-halal foods.
This is problematic under the U.S. Constitution's Establishment
and Equal
Protection Clauses. Even if a school district endeavors to provide all
students with food satisfying each one's religious requirements, it would
arguably entangle the government in religious observance and so violate the
separation of "church" and state. If a school district goes out
of its way to provide food satisfying the religious requirements of only
some students, but not others, it risks illegally giving them unequal
advantages and elevating
their religion over others. This is especially so given that the school
food is paid for at least partly with public
funds, although the schools have been reluctant to reveal how much tax
money is involved.
The Halal Programs
Public schools in Dearborn,
Michigan, first began offering halal lunches in 2001.
That winter, the school district invited "proposals
from halal food distributors to provide food at several of its 28 public
schools," and began a pilot
program. Presently, according to David Mustonen, director of community
and public relations for Dearborn Public Schools, "All schools have a halal
option five days a week."
Dearborn Heights' Crestwood School District started a halal food pilot
program in 2013-14.
Last year, Crawford High School in San Diego operated a pilot
program offering a halal lunch option twice a week.
Legislators in both New York City and New York State have proposed
mandating public
schools to serve halal
food. In February 2014, New York City Councilman Rafael Espinal
introduced a resolution
requiring New York City schools "to provide a halal lunch menu
option." Three
separate
bills
have been introduced in the New York State Assembly during the current
(2015-16) term that would require public schools in big cities to offer
halal lunch options. One
of them requires that the food be provided to Muslim students "at no
cost."
Media stories about lobbying efforts to serve halal food in New York
City and San Diego public schools largely framed the issue as one of poor
Muslim children going hungry because government-funded public schools
failed to provide food satisfying their religious requirements (e.g.,
for San Diego: here,
here,
and here;
for New York City: here
and here).
The articles presumed parents could not or would not provide lunches, or
argued that unheated packaged lunches were insufficient to enable children
to learn effectively. Adds David Loy, legal director of the ACLU Foundation
of San Diego & Imperial Counties, "The [San Diego] school district
has a valid secular purpose of promoting equal educational opportunity by
ensuring that low-income students eat lunch and therefore learn more
effectively." New York City's proposed
legislation shares these assumptions.
The coverage has also focused on meat. Articles typically presume that
supplying halal meals equates to serving meat meals, although one story
about Dearborn
Heights indicated the school district was offering more vegetarian
options in addition to meat, and one about San
Diego commented that salad dressings are sometimes not halal.
Other Religions Excluded
The Middle East Forum asked Mustonen whether Dearborn makes kosher or
other religiously compliant meals available to students. He responded only:
"If there were a demand for kosher lunches (hot or cold) the district
would consider that as an option." In other words, no. Neither San
Diego nor Crestwood (Dearborn Heights) responded to any questions about
whether they provide food satisfying non-Islamic religious requirements.
The legislation pending in New York City and State does not require public
schools to satisfy religious dietary requirements of non-Muslims. For
instance, they are not required to offer kosher meals, despite New York's
historically large Jewish population.
While the Forum cannot conclusively say that no public school lunch
programs in the country benefit students of other religions having dietary
restrictions, several public school districts that have traditionally had
large Jewish populations were contacted for this article. Districts
contacted include: New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Scarsdale, New Rochelle, Lawrence School District
(Nassau County, New York), Lower Merion (Pennsylvania), Shaker Heights
(Ohio), West Bloomfield (Michigan), and School District 68 and Township
High School District 113 (Skokie/Highland Park, Illinois). They uniformly
responded that they do not offer kosher lunches.
New York City, Baltimore, Lawrence School District, and School District
68 offer a few items, such as juice, marked kosher. Philadelphia and
Chicago have eliminated pork products from their menus, and Cleveland has
cut back on pork products.
Government Funds Used to Pay a Premium for Halal Food
Beginning with the 2014-15 school year, the federal
government pays for free lunches for all students (i.e., free to
students, paid for by the federal government) at a school if more than 40%
of its students come from low-income homes.
Crawford qualifies for free lunches for all students, according to Loy.
Dearborn declined to provide details about the number and percentage of
its students participating in the federal lunch program, but as of 2011,
approximately 60% of its students qualified
for federal help. A number of Dearborn schools, if not the whole district,
likely qualify for lunches free to all students courtesy of the federal
government under the new federal policy. In any case, it receives millions
of federal dollars each year for free and reduced-price lunches.
Crestwood (Dearborn Heights) also declined to provide information, but
data suggest Crestwood also meets the 40% threshold for universal access to
free lunches. As of 2009-10,
46% of Crestwood High School's 1,260 students received subsidized lunches,
and as of 2014, 62%
of them did.
Halal meat costs more than non-halal meat. Asked about the Dearborn
program's cost, Mustonen responded only, "Any increase in cost is
off-set by an increase in revenue." He provided no details, and the
source of the increased revenue is unexplained.
Reportedly, halal meals for the Dearborn program cost the district 20%-30%
more per meal than equivalent non-halal meals. Significant dollars are
involved: the Dearborn school district contracted to pay $228,000
for halal meat. The time period covered by the contract was not provided.
Neither San Diego nor Crestwood (Dearborn Heights) school district
responded to inquiries on the respective program's cost or any other issue.
Before beginning its pilot program, the San Diego school district reportedly
spent "$16 million a year on 22 million meals for students, but adding
a halal menu could be a considerable extra cost... the meat is a bit pricey
because it is considered hard to come by." A later story about the San
Diego halal program mentioned increased cost only in the context of the
food being organic,
not in the context of it being halal. It gave no specifics, other than
stating organic drumsticks cost "a few extra cents." Like
Mustonen, Gary Petill,
food services director of San Diego Unified School District, stated that
increased participation – paid for by the federal government – covered the
increased cost.
Demand for school lunches at Crawford has increased by about 300
meals (it is unclear whether that figure represents the additional number
of meals per week, or the number of additional students participating in
the twice-weekly halal lunch option), the cost of which is borne by the
federal government, not by parents or students. Not all additional
participants are Muslim; the breakdown of Muslim as compared to non-Muslim
new participants is not known.
Crestwood (Dearborn Heights) food service director Lori Squire did not
respond to an inquiry for this article but has reportedly said a maximum
of 20% of students who buy their meals opt for the halal chicken patty
option. It is unclear to what extent federal funds subsidize those lunches.
To sum up, three American school districts are providing Muslim students
with food meeting their religious requirements. Dearborn is not doing the
same for students of other religions, such as Jews. San Diego and Dearborn Heights
ignored questions about how students of other religions are treated. New
York City and State are considering legislation that would require schools
to provide halal food but not food meeting any other religious
requirements. The halal food costs more than comparable non-religiously
prescribed food. It is paid for in part or in whole with millions of
dollars in federal funds.
In effect, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, and San Diego appear to have
established Islam as an official religion, whose rituals are endorsed by
the government and paid for with public funds. New York City and New York
State may join them. Other religions, such as Judaism, are unrecognized. It
may be halal, but it sure doesn't sound kosher.
Johanna Markind is Associate
Counselor for the Middle East Forum.
Related
Topics: Government, Halal, Schools (Non-Islamic)
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