A school in the village of Arveyres in the Gironde region of south west France has declared that from this month onwards, it would no longer offer meat alternatives to children who did not eat pork. This decision was brought about after the mayor of Arveyres, Benoit Gheysen, made a statement to AFP that the cost of providing alternative meals was expensive and yet most of the food was going to waste. He said that many times the children who did not take the substitute diner complained as well and left the pork, leaving the staff distressed on the amount of food going to waste.

The mayor has however, vowed that the children would get all the protein they needed because vegetables, lentils and salads would be offered whenever pork was on the menu. He also believes that the school in Arveyres is not the only one in France that is facing the same dilemma; he added that pork was served no more than once a week.

Since pork is forbidden under Jewish and Muslim dietary laws, some parents have offered to pack for their children lunch from home. This gesture has however, been brushed away by the mayor who says that it would be logistically hard to implement and ethically shocking.

There will be 30 children out of 180 who will face the effects of this change.

In France, the issue of halal meat is often a controversial topic which has been used as a political football especially with approaching elections.

Before last year’s presidential elections, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the anti-immigration National Front party launched a row when she claimed that all meat from abattoirs in the region of Paris was prepared using Islamic halal traditions hence misleading non-Muslim consumers in the capital.

Wading into the war, former president Nicolas Sarkorzy suggested that meat would be labeled to tell consumers how the animal was slaughtered, but the Muslims and Jews rejected the idea fearing it would lead to their being stigmatized.

At that time, Claude Gueant, former Interior Minister under Sarkozy said that halal meat was one reason why the government opposed Francois Hollande’s plan to give foreign residents the vote in French local elections. He said that as an example we don’t want foreign local councilors making halal meat obligatory in school canteens. Hitting back however, the French Council of Muslim Faith slammed what it said was the use of Muslims as scapegoats in the election campaign.

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A new school headscarf is set to be introduced following pressure from pupils. Pleckgate High School, Blackburn, saw girls rebel after bringing in a uniform hijab, complaining it was ill-fitting or against their Islamic principles.

The school began working with a group of girls on a new design which will become uniform policy after the half-term holiday. Headteacher Cherry Ridgway said: "All the girls have behaved well throughout the process and parents have been very supportive."

The school decided to only include the girls who found the scarf uncomfortable in the redesign.

Mariyah Mahmud, 15, said: "I don't think there will be any more problems over the headscarf now. They talked to us and let us have our say and now all the girls are happy. Now that there is no issue with the length of it around the neck I don't think anyone will complain."

The new headscarf will be longer than the two designs which were rejected and will bear the school emblem on the front. Ms Ridgway said: "One or two girls said they would prefer it not to have the school logo but, as the longer design covers the tie, it is important that this carries the logo as it is part of the uniform."

The pupils who refused to wear the headscarf because it was too small have been allowed to sport their own choice of plain hijab in the meantime.

Lancashire Telegraph, 25 October 2012

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