Article

2005-12-19 Down Under

WA Hospital Adopts Halal Diet. Tells Christians "No Christmas Ham For You"

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Posted by Babs 2005-12-19 00:55|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Hubris. Not nearly as multicultural as they think.

"...we've got prawns..."

Prawns? Wtf if someone wants kosher?

Rice and a cup of tea.

Posted by glenn 2005-12-19 03:57|| 2005-12-19 03:57|| Front Page Top

#2 Oops, sbt. I forgot. Someone on Tim Blair's site points out tea is haram for Mormons.

Posted by glenn 2005-12-19 04:22|| 2005-12-19 04:22|| Front Page Top

#3 But they won't kill you if you choose to drink it.

Posted by .com 2005-12-19 05:21|| 2005-12-19 05:21|| Front Page Top

#4 Glenn, as long as the kosher diet strictly conforms with the halal one, it is permitted.

I guess everyone who is allergic to seafood is screwed on Christmas. (I didn't know that Muslims celebrate the birth of Christ with a big meal, either. You learn something new every day!)

Posted by Desert Blondie 2005-12-19 08:19|| http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com]">[http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com] 2005-12-19 08:19|| Front Page Top

#5 A Health Department spokeswoman said the menu change was about meeting the needs of the Islamic community.

She denied it meant sacrificing Christian traditions.

Liar!

Posted by CrazyFool 2005-12-19 08:37|| 2005-12-19 08:37|| Front Page Top

#6 Why not give the patients a choice?
Or is that solution to simple?

Posted by raptor 2005-12-19 09:52|| 2005-12-19 09:52|| Front Page Top

#7 Every one in a while, about 10 times a day, I read something that makes me scream out loud-

FUCK MUSLIMS!

Posted by bigjim-ky 2005-12-19 10:02|| 2005-12-19 10:02|| Front Page Top

#8 What do they do if I say that halal items violate my religion? Say my religion demands that I eat pork every day.....are they going to accomodate that?

(Crickets chirping)

Posted by Desert Blondie 2005-12-19 10:07|| http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com]">[http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com] 2005-12-19 10:07|| Front Page Top

#9 Ditto bigjim-ky. This is stuck-on-stupid and doesn't do an a damn thing for US pig farmers.

Posted by Besoeker 2005-12-19 10:14|| 2005-12-19 10:14|| Front Page Top

#10 Don't worry besoeker. I'll make sure to eat my
and Achmed's fair share of bacon and ham this
Christmas. Another benefit of Christianity.

Posted by BA 2005-12-19 10:29|| 2005-12-19 10:29|| Front Page Top

#11 I just spent a few days in the hospital on the surgical ward. For each meal we were presented with several options for each part of the meal (soup/salad, entree, vegetable, dessert, beverage), with at least one thing in each section conforming to the needs of a kosher or a vegetarian diet. Of course, if one keeps strictly kosher, nothing that comes out of an uncertified kitchen will be acceptable anyway (liberalhawk and mhw recently exchanged a series of jokes, the punchline of which was that even God Himself doesn't keep quite kosher enough for certain ulta-ultra-orthodox Jews!), but the families of such people bring food from home as a matter of principle. I s trongly suspect the same holds for halal, and so this hospital's effort is not only for naught, but demonstrates that they truly don't understand.

Dhimmi fools!

Posted by trailing wife 2005-12-19 10:30|| 2005-12-19 10:30|| Front Page Top

#12 Hope youre feeling well TW.

The schools where we live let the kids no if an item contains pork (with a little pic of a piggie on the menu) I presume this was done for the benefit of muslims, but it also helps kids from the kinda sorta observant Jewish homes, like my daughter.

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-12-19 11:03|| 2005-12-19 11:03|| Front Page Top

#13 #10 Don't worry besoeker. I'll make sure to eat my and Achmed's fair share of bacon and ham this
Christmas. Another benefit of Christianity.
Posted by: BA 2005-12-19 10:29

Whhahahahahahahhahaaaaa..... high-5 to you BA!

Posted by Besoeker 2005-12-19 11:25|| 2005-12-19 11:25|| Front Page Top

#14 "Prawns? Wtf if someone wants kosher?"

Yeah, I heard that God Hates Shrimp.

Posted by Xbalanke 2005-12-19 11:38|| 2005-12-19 11:38|| Front Page Top

#15 This woman is clueless. First of all, shellfish isn't necessarily halal either.

First of all, to be truly kosher or halal, you have to have separate kitchens or at the very least separate cooking utensils and dishware. Just taking pork off the menu is meaningless.

If she wanted to provide a halal menu, all she had to do was get a couple of halal turkeys, cook them in one of those aluminum trays and serve them on paper plates. And of course make sure that nobody touching anything from prep to serving was "unclean".

A variety of substances are considered haraam (forbidden), including: pork, blood, animals slaughtered in the name of anyone but God, carrion, carnivorous animals with the exception of most fish and sea animals, and all intoxicants (specifically alcohol). A section of the Muslim community believe that fish which do not carry scales as well as lobsters and crabs are considered haraam, while others believe that only those animals living in "both worlds" (land and water) are considered haraam; for example, frogs. Fish with scales are halaal if they are allowed to die on land (they cannot be beaten to death or cut apart while still alive).

Posted by 2b 2005-12-19 12:28|| 2005-12-19 12:28|| Front Page Top

#16 No offense to those keeping Kosher, but anyone know a good recipe involving bacon and shrimp? I've already planned on blowing my diet on Christmas Eve, so I may as well go (ahem) whole hog.

Posted by Robert Crawford">Robert Crawford 2005-12-19 12:54|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-12-19 12:54|| Front Page Top

#17 wrap the bacon around the shrimp and broil. YUM. Good for low carb too.
bacon wrapped in shrimp

Posted by 2b 2005-12-19 13:39|| 2005-12-19 13:39|| Front Page Top

#18 2b - while not all muslims accept shellfish, I believe most do.

And many muslims will eat non-halal but not pork (like the practice of many jews wrt Kashrut) And IIUC halal is generally more lenient about slaughtering practice than kashrut - so most halal observant muslims will eat kosher meat, but Orthodox jews wont eat halal meat.

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-12-19 16:57|| 2005-12-19 16:57|| Front Page Top

#19 My brother in law used to run a hospital kitchen. He said it was a real art to make everything taste like cardboard...

Posted by tu3031 2005-12-19 17:00|| 2005-12-19 17:00|| Front Page Top

#20 Ham for Christmas comes from Northern European farming customs. Ham and goose were about the only good party meat available in Winter for those people not permitted to hunt his lordship's deer.

I'm serving roast elk, myself.

Posted by mom">mom 2005-12-19 17:26|| http://idontknowbut.blogspot.com]">[http://idontknowbut.blogspot.com] 2005-12-19 17:26|| Front Page Top

#21 thanks, LH.

Patients diets fall into several categories and the menus are modified accordingly: Low Fat/Heart Healthy/Diabetic, Low Salt, Low Fiber/Bland/Soft, Liquid and Regular. Those are doctors orders.

The diets are then modified to meet personal needs such as vegetarian, kosher, halal, chewing problems, allergies, etc.

It would be an ENORMOUS effort to provide true Kosher or Halal meals in a hospital setting. Some Jewish hospitals do it - but usually have two completely separate kitchens, tray lines and sometimes even dishwashing facilities. And then of course, with Halal, there is the problem that you'd have to fire all the infidels.

Lots of hospitals don't serve ham anymore. It's extremely high in salt and fat, though it's not unusual to see it on holiday menu.

To meet the typical needs of Kosher or Halal, it can be accomplished through a few additional menu items and paper plates. It does not require making it unavailable to those who want it.

Additionally, it is very common in hospitals for those who want to assure that their food complies with strict kosher or 7th Day Adventist or halal or unusual ethic preferences to have their family provide it for them.

This woman just sounds kind of dumb.

Posted by 2b 2005-12-19 17:33|| 2005-12-19 17:33|| Front Page Top

#22 What about bowhead whale muktuk? Black skin about 1 cm thick, followed by blubber to the core. Hey, it's not bad at all. After you eat some, you feel like your stomach is a little furnace, puttin' out the heat. Carrots, and other things in fresh seal oil, too are healthy. People would bring stuff to patients in the hospital in Kotzebue. Kinda raises the morale. So is it or is it not bloody halal or do I have to give it up when I go north to visit?

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2005-12-19 18:25|| 2005-12-19 18:25|| Front Page Top

#23 Jeebus, AP. You could sell that stuff as Heart Attack in a Can.

Posted by BH 2005-12-19 18:45|| 2005-12-19 18:45|| Front Page Top

#24 I take it pork hock is out of the question.

Posted by Granwyth Hulebut 2005-12-19 19:04|| 2005-12-19 19:04|| Front Page Top

#25 Party Meat!

Posted by Ritealin Spemble1219 2005-12-19 19:10|| 2005-12-19 19:10|| Front Page Top

#26 Thank you kindly, liberalhawk. I'm healing very nicely, indeed -- they doubled my blood volume, which makes my body extremely happy as well as putting roses in my cheeks. :-)

As for the piggies on the menu, no such thing. We're pioneering the outer suburbs here, still at the stage where I'm the go-to girl for all those who always wondered why the Jews ____ (fill in the blank). Always nicely meant though, and it is nice to see people think about these things. Besides, the trailing daughters don't keep kosher, so it isn't a hardship (except that they are junior foodies, and would really prefer sushi, or escargot with garlic butter).

Posted by trailing wife 2005-12-19 23:19|| 2005-12-19 23:19|| Front Page Top

#27 Alaska Paul: I flew into Galena once and spent a few days many years ago. I watched em eat some strange stuff, but no muktuk. The moose meat is pretty good, as is the antelope and bear. I nearly tasted some beaver at the Bush Company once also.

Posted by Besoeker 2005-12-19 23:26|| 2005-12-19 23:26|| Front Page Top

#28 Best be careful, Besoeker. Around Rantburg you can't ever be sure if the person you approve of isn't actually one of the Chosen. Not all of them keep kosher, y'know.

Thanks ever so for permission to disapprove.

Posted by trailing wife 2005-12-19 23:47|| 2005-12-19 23:47|| Front Page Top

23:57 jules 2
23:52 jules 2
23:47 trailing wife
23:37 Bomb-a-rama
23:36 trailing wife
23:33 trailing wife
23:31 trailing wife
23:30 49 pan
23:29 Robert Crawford
23:28 trailing wife
23:27 Robert Crawford
23:26 Besoeker
23:19 trailing wife
23:18 Besoeker
23:11 Barbara Skolaut
22:58 trailing wife
22:57 Besoeker
22:54 tu3031
22:49 Besoeker
22:44 tu3031
22:43 CaziFarkus
22:39 CaziFarkus
22:37 Oldspook
22:35 Besoeker