Halal beef offered on campus
Fanshawe Muslim students now have beef option in Oasis
Halal roast beef has been added to the menu at a couple Fanshawe food joints in the hopes of making more lunch, and dinner, options available to the college's growing Muslim population.
The beef, which is already being served at the Oasis, will soon become available at the Out Back Shack as well.
“For us, halal beef is no different than ordering any other beef,” explained Brian Harness, the food service director with the Oasis. “It's still the same roast beef we've always served, it's just that this one is Halal. It would be different if it was a Kosher thing, where it's a mode of preparation that you have to do, but with this one it's just the method in which the animal is killed I believe is the criteria behind it.
“Other than that, we get it in and cook it, so for us there's no change in what we do, it's just a different product that we order.”
The change at Fanshawe comes just as the Canadian Government is pushing to enlarge the country's halal market, as Ottawa believes that the worldwide halal market ranges from between $500 billion to $2 trillion a year.
“We think there is an opportunity and what we're trying to do is educate some of our companies,” said James Hannah, a senior international market officer with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in a recent interview with the Canadian Press. “It's a question of just trying to work along and try and get our act together at Agri-Food Canada.”
Halal, which means ‘lawful' in Arabic, is commonly used in North American culture in reference to a specific way animals are slaughtered for consumption, particularly that the animal does not suffer any undo pain, they are not dead prior to being slaughtered and they must be slaughtered solely in the name of Allah.
“The beef is still roast beef to you and I,” said Harness. “It tastes the same, it's the same type of beef we've always had, it's just a different company and a halal product. So you will not notice a difference, and nobody will notice a difference, it's the exact same roast beef.”
“It's more of a pre-emptive strike than us waiting for somebody to ask for it and then get it.”
At this point in time the Oasis and Out Back Shack are just providing halal roast beef, which means that in the Oasis, all the roast beef offered, be it for wraps, stir-fry or otherwise, will be halal. But Harness stressed that that doesn't mean the college won't expand the variety of Halal products in the future.
“Chicken more than triples in cost, so in order for us to do a halal chicken we have to look into it further,” explained Harness. “We have looked at chicken fingers, but I'm waiting for samples before we get that. I won't buy it just because it's Halal.
“If it tastes good, is good for us and is cost effective, we'll buy it - if it isn't, I'm not going to waste student money by doing that.”
Halal roast beef has been added to the menu at a couple Fanshawe food joints in the hopes of making more lunch, and dinner, options available to the college's growing Muslim population.
The beef, which is already being served at the Oasis, will soon become available at the Out Back Shack as well.
“For us, halal beef is no different than ordering any other beef,” explained Brian Harness, the food service director with the Oasis. “It's still the same roast beef we've always served, it's just that this one is Halal. It would be different if it was a Kosher thing, where it's a mode of preparation that you have to do, but with this one it's just the method in which the animal is killed I believe is the criteria behind it.
“Other than that, we get it in and cook it, so for us there's no change in what we do, it's just a different product that we order.”
The change at Fanshawe comes just as the Canadian Government is pushing to enlarge the country's halal market, as Ottawa believes that the worldwide halal market ranges from between $500 billion to $2 trillion a year.
“We think there is an opportunity and what we're trying to do is educate some of our companies,” said James Hannah, a senior international market officer with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in a recent interview with the Canadian Press. “It's a question of just trying to work along and try and get our act together at Agri-Food Canada.”
Halal, which means ‘lawful' in Arabic, is commonly used in North American culture in reference to a specific way animals are slaughtered for consumption, particularly that the animal does not suffer any undo pain, they are not dead prior to being slaughtered and they must be slaughtered solely in the name of Allah.
“The beef is still roast beef to you and I,” said Harness. “It tastes the same, it's the same type of beef we've always had, it's just a different company and a halal product. So you will not notice a difference, and nobody will notice a difference, it's the exact same roast beef.”
“It's more of a pre-emptive strike than us waiting for somebody to ask for it and then get it.”
At this point in time the Oasis and Out Back Shack are just providing halal roast beef, which means that in the Oasis, all the roast beef offered, be it for wraps, stir-fry or otherwise, will be halal. But Harness stressed that that doesn't mean the college won't expand the variety of Halal products in the future.
“Chicken more than triples in cost, so in order for us to do a halal chicken we have to look into it further,” explained Harness. “We have looked at chicken fingers, but I'm waiting for samples before we get that. I won't buy it just because it's Halal.
“If it tastes good, is good for us and is cost effective, we'll buy it - if it isn't, I'm not going to waste student money by doing that.”
