Halal Meat Program
in cooperation with
MiddDining

Halal Meat Schedule, Updated January, 2006

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

 

 

 


How do I get to the dining Hall?
Locate Atwater Dining Hall next to Allen Hall and the Atwater Suites

What do I do when I get there?
Ask the dining hall staff for the halal meat. They usually keep it behind the serving line. If you like to know what they're serving before you get there, call the kitchen directly.

Alhamdolilah, in January 2001 the Dining Services at Middlebury College (MiddDining) accepted the Islamic Society petition for Halal meat. Starting Feburary 12, 2001, Halal meat will be served in the Freeman Dining Hall in the Freeman International Center. Halal will be available on the regular food line two days a week.

Specific details about which days of the week and what entrees will be served are still being discussed by the Islamic Society and MiddDining. Please check back later for an update.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Where and when is Halal meat served?
Halal is available on the regular food line in the Atwater Dining Halls twice a week. The days are emailed to the members a week in advanced.

Where does the meat come from?
Our local Halal meat supplier is:
Fresh Farms Beef Inc.
802 773 3074
Park Street, Rutland, VT

Is the Halal meat supplier certified by a religious authority?
 In a conversation with the owner of Fresh Farms Beef Inc. on February 8th, 2001, Wasim learned that the Rutland-based company provides Halal meat to Reiker's Island Prision, a large prision in New York City. Also, the company is certified by the Blackstone Halal Meat Market and the mosque in Quincy, Mass. The owner of the Blackstone Halal Meat Market is Brother Saleem and his number is 617 367 6181 and students are encouraged to talk to him and/or the owners of Fresh Farms Beef if they have any questions.Fresh Farms Beef Inc is an exclusively Halal operation.

How and where are the animals killed?
The goat, lamb and beef are all killed on site in Rutland.
The chicken is imported from elsewhere, but is also certified Halal.

Where can I find information about eating Halal?
More information on Halal meat and eating Halal can be found at: Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of North America

Does the term Halal only apply to meat?
No. Halal is an Arabic word meaning permissible. It is the opposite of Haraam, or what is specifically prohibited. Many foods can contain ingredients that are Haraam, such as fish cooked in alcohol or bacon ranch salad dressing.

Where can I find a list of products that are Halal and Haraam?
Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America

Are Halal and Kosher really the same thing?
There are varying opinions on whether Halal and kosher are the same.
The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America seems to suggest that they are not, given that Jews can used alcohol in their food. But as for the meat itself, there is theological disagreement. What is certain, however, is that it is better to help Muslims by eating Halal rather than kosher.

Our Letter to Dining Services

8 January 2001 / 12 Shawwal 1421

Mr. Pete Napolitano
Director of Dining Services
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT 05753

Dear Mr. Napolitano,
 

The Islamic Society of Middlebury College has grown steadily in the past few years.  Each entering class brings a larger group of practicing Muslim students than the one before it.  Currently, there are over 40 Muslim students at Middlebury.  As our community has grown, the College administration has taken an active interest in providing for the needs of our emerging community.

Middlebury Dining Services has been particularly supportive by introducing a meal credit plan for Muslims who fast during Ramadan.  The program has helped students realize that although they are members of a minority faith and small community, they can still practice their religion without compromise.  The Islamic Society applauds the program and believes that it is an illustration of the fact that Middlebury remains a leader in assisting emerging Muslim communities on liberal arts campuses.

Another example of the good relationship between the Islamic Society and Middlebury Dining Services is from October break 1999, when members of the Islamic Society used the Hamlin kitchen to prepare dinner.  The arrangement allowed the students to prepare a chicken dish from Halal meat purchased by the College a few years before for a student who followed strict Islamic dietary law.

At the time of the October dinner, two students of the Islamic Society (Andaleeb Choudhuary '03 and Wasim Rahman '02) spoke with Mr. Walter Van Price of Hamlin Dining Hall about the need for Halal meat.  They explained that several Muslim students had become vegetarians since arriving at Middlebury, and still others had decided they were going to eat non-Halal meat until Halal would become available.  During the meeting, the students also provided Mr. Van Price with contact information for a Halal meat farm in Rutland.  They also called the farm in Rutland and presented Mr. Van Price with the various prices for different kinds of meat.  The students never again heard from Dining Services regarding Halal meat.
 
HALAL MEAT: AN URGENT NEED

The following students do not eat meat at Middlebury due to their religious convictions:

  1. Wasim Rahman 02 (Oregon)
  2. Bilal Habib 04 (Karachi, Pakistan)
  3. Saad Kamal 03 (Karachi, Pakistan)
  4. Abdur Rahim Syed 02 (Karachi, Pakistan)
  5. Tayaba Zahra 04 (New York City)
  6. Rafat Kapadia 04 (Bombay, India)
  7. Madiha Tariq 04 (Karachi, Pakistan)
 

The following students follow the fatwa (religious ruling) that if no Halal meat is available, one may eat non-Halal if a prayer is said before eating the meat.  They might also believe that while Halal meat is better, any non-pork meat can be Halal if a prayer is read.

  1. Samia Amin 03 (Lahore, Pakistan)
  2. Shahan Mufti 03 (Islamabad, Pakistan)
  3. Usman Haque 02 (Lahore, Pakistan)
  4. Khurram Jamali 04 (Karachi, Pakistan)
  5. Hosam Mekdad 03 (Damascus, Syria)
  6. Siti Masturah Ismail 01 (Singapore)
  7. Nuradeen (Matthew) Saratore 01 (Illinois)

In sum, approximately 14 students or so are in need of Halal meat.  Others are very likely to surface when a Halal option become available.

The Islamic Society of Middlebury College formally requests Middlebury College Dining Services and the administration of Middlebury College to introduce Halal meat in Proctor Dining Hall, at least four days each week beginning this Spring Term, 2001.

We request that the meat be prepared in accordance to Islamic dietary law [APPENDICES A, B, C].   The students are particularly concerned that no alcohol or pork be used in the cookware or as ingredients in the meat.

We request that meat not be served on days that fish is served.  All fish is Halal according to Islamic Law (shar'ia) and thus will maximize the utility of Halal meat in the dining hall.

We request that Halal be made available at Proctor, not Hamlin or Freeman, since Proctor is the largest dining hall and likely to attract the most Muslim students.  The members of the Islamic Society are worried that if they have to go to Hamlin or Freeman to eat they will become segregated from the greater Middlebury student body.
 
  We request that the meat be made available by the beginning of Spring Term, 2001 (February 12, 2001).  A recent study of the Muslims at Middlebury revealed that several students were vegetarians when they first arrived at Middlebury, and tried very hard to follow Islamic law.  These students, now graduating seniors, have resorted to eating non-Halal meat because the length of time without  Halal has made them desperate.  They resolved that it was okay to eat non-Halal because to go nine months each year for four years without meat is unhealthy and unIslamic.

We believe the need is urgent.

To close, the Islamic Society makes these requests with the utmost respect for you, Mr. Napolitano, and Middlebury Dining Services.  Nevertheless, we urgently ask that this request be expedited.  All resources are available to us to meet the needs of Muslim students at Middlebury.

Please examine Appendicies A-E at the end of this letter.

We look forward to hearing from you and pray that you are able to help us inshaAllah (God willing).
 

Sincerely,
 

Wasim Rahman      Shahan Mufti
Ext. 4251               Ext. 4171

Chief Petitioners and
Members of the Shura Council of the
Islamic Society of Middlebury College