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In order to offer more cultural diversity in its campus food plan, the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) now serves halal proteins at every meal in all of its residential dining halls. “Two years ago, UCSC’s senior leadership came to me with the goal of accommodating more students by offering halal and kosher choices,” says William Prime, director of dining and hospitality services. “We decided to start with halal because it has less restrictions than kosher meals.”
“Halal,” Arabic for “permissible,” describes food that adheres to Islamic dietary prescriptions such as no pork or alcohol, and meat and poultry that is butchered according to specific requirements. “In 2015, a Muslim student approached me about serving halal proteins as he was forced to be vegetarian during the week and then eat meat at home on the weekend,” says Prime. “Back then, sourcing halal was challenging for us in terms of cost and availability.”
A red icon signals dishes that are made with halal-certified proteins.
UC Santa Cruz Dining began introducing a few halal items in its five all-you-care-to-eat dining halls at the start of the last academic year. Prime says the halal...