More Food Options At Hinsdale Central

Dear Quest Food Services, 

 After hearing many complaints and receiving many emails about the limited food options available in the cafeteria I decided it would be a good idea to reach out to you. In our school, we have many students who have dietary restrictions due to their cultures and can only eat certain things. I believe that it would be our best choice to provide more foods that follow Halal guidelines for Islamic students. What is this you may ask? Halal foods are the only foods that are allowed to be consumed under under Islamic dietary guidelines. Most food in our cafeteria is Haram foods. These foods cannot be consumed by our Islamic students because they are "forbidden" in their culture. Some Haram foods are pork, animals that were dead prior to slaughtering, and animals that were not slaughtered properly. Adding on, carnivorous animals, birds of prey, and land animals without external ears are also Haram foods.

Now, the real question is how are we going to fix our menu at Hinsdale Central to fit the Islamic dietary restrictions. Well, some Halal (can be eaten) foods that we can add could be chicken, gyros, and falafel, shwarma, and flavorful kabobs. Some side dishes could be hummus and tahini, and of course for dessert we could add baklava. Islamic people believe that all animals should be treated with respect, well cared for, and limit the amount of pain when slaughtering an animal. This means that in order to make lots of these things you need to find a special place to get this done. Where you may ask? Well, you can find many Halal foods at Middle Eastern grocers in large cities or, you could find halal butchers. Both places make sure all foods follow Islamic dietary restrictions. Adding on, during the holiday Eid-al-Fitr Islamic students have to fast. This is when they cannot eat during the day until a certain time. But, for breakfast I believe that we should add some foods they can eat before starting the fast. These foods are normally sweet dishes. For example, Boeber. This is made by cooking vermicelli with dates, and then cooked separately in milk. In conclusion, many other Hinsdale Central students and I believe that we should definitely add more Halal foods to our cafeteria menu to fit the Islamic dietary needs.