The holiday season is here, and so the mind turns to the question, is nutmeg halal?
Latest Updates: food RSS
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aziz
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johnpi
We don’t blog alot about health issues here, and for Western Muslims, I don’t think anybody who does health studies ever looks at us specifically in a way that it would be a ‘Muslim’ story, but there are huge trends in the larger society and it’s fair to ask how much or whether we are a part of them, and how much a specific ‘Muslim lifestyle’ plays into those trends.
Studies suggest overweight kids are coronary time bombs.
Russell Pate was driving through a neighborhood one late afternoon when he noticed something odd.
He couldn’t hear the sounds of children playing. No jump rope patter. No squeals of a bike’s brake. No crack of a bat — just silence.
The streets were deserted because the neighborhood kids were cocooned in their homes, Pate says. It was a scene he’s seen over and over again.
“Now you can drive through entire neighborhoods where you know there are a lot of young kids there and hardly see any of them out,” says Pate, an American Heart Association spokesman.
….A study released last November at a Heart Association conference found that the neck arteries in obese and overweight children were similar to those of 45-year-olds. The children in the study also had “abnormal cholesterol” and were said to be at high risk for heart disease in the future.
The story cites television, video games, the obsession with testing and fast food as culprits. Here in the West, Muslims are usually well-off and well-fed, but despite (or perhaps because of) fasting, food and modesty restrictions, are Western Muslims fat?
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thabet
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thabet
Opposition to sale of Pakistani farmland to Saudi Arabia:
Pakistan only recent agreed to give 7m acres of land to the Emirates Investment Group. Saudi Arabia joins other Gulf countries (Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar) in signing up these sorts of deals with poorer nations. China, South Korea, and India have all signed agreements in recent years. South Korea’s deal with Madagascar is cited by some as the reason for Marc Ravalomanana’s downfall.
Although Africa seems the primary target, Central Asian states, Southeast Asia and even Russia have been keen to offer their land.
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thabet
Talking of markets, consumers, and religious rites and festivals:
According to a recent study by the Solis agency, which specializes in ‘ethnic marketing’, the halal market (in France) is valued at close to 4 billion euro for 2009, and is estimated to grow at annual rate of 15%. According to Solis, 93% of North Africans and 55% of sub-Saharan Africans buy halal products.
In Italy, a hotel now caters especially for guests who are fasting.
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thabet
Perhaps you’d like to end your roza with some halal wine?
Tabak’s quest for 0% alcohol wine begun at the request of Muslims. At Friday get-togethers, holidays such as Christmas or New Year’s, they couldn’t drink with colleagues and friends and a ‘halal wine’ could offer them a solution.
Tabak studied the process of making alcohol-free wine. Through a new technical process, for which a patent is pending, Tabak, in cooperation with a German company, managed to make alcohol-free wine. There are already so-called alcohol-free wines, Tabak says, but they didn’t pass the HQC halal-test since there’s a bit of alcohol in them.
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thabet
Food fascism in Silvio Berlusconi’s Superior Civilisation:
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In a nutshell, a council ordinance tabled by the Northern League bans all ‘ethnic’ shops and businesses from Capriate town centre. Most stunning is the motivation offered by the Chair of Trade and Safety at the local council: “This is not a racist decision [of course, ed.]. The town centre is short of parking space and those businesses would worsen traffic congestion”.
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aziz
So, my friend Taha found bugs in his Raisin Bran. Live ones. ready for Ramadan yet?
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thabet
Outside a mosque in the West End last Friday, there were two sets of people jostling for a place in front of the exit, both eager to attract the attention of the muttaqin returning to the affairs of the world.
One set of people from the local Subway franchise, promoting their diet of white bread and (halal) meat to the exiting worshippers*.
The other set of people were from the local Hizb ut-Tahrir franchise, advertising some sort of conference which would explain to any attendees how a dictator from their party would solve all of the world’s problems.
I’ll leave it to the reader to work out which set of people were more successful in generating interest in their product.
*Another example of the creeping Islamificationalisationislism of food in the UK.
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thabet
I remember snacking inside a Uighur cafe/restaurant behind Sultanahmet Camii in Istanbul. The cafe is located inside a building marked with slogans calling for the freedom for East Turkestan.
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thabet
Food ‘neo-colonialism’:
New reports from the UN and analysts in India, Washington and London estimate that at least 30m hectares is being acquired to grow food for countries such as China and the Gulf states who cannot produce enough for their populations. According to the UN, the trend is accelerating and could severely impair the ability of poor countries to feed themselves.
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thabet
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thabet
A Swedish city will no longer supply food to schools ‘based on ethical and religious grounds, such as halal meat’.
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aziz
more on the Dunkin Donuts versus halal story – as it happens, kosher-only stores are permitted by the parent company, it’s only the muslim store that was singled out.
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aziz
One billion hungry people in the world.
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aziz
some things aren’t haram – but should be. my stomach still hurts thinking about it.
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aziz
(h/t Willow)
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aziz
The Halal Crescent of Dhimmitude: mmmmm.... dhimmitude is so tasty
western cultural imperialism FTW
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fathima
Bownie: authentic Sri lankan cuisine.
how is it that NY has a halal Tamil restaurant and Toronto doesn’t? but i love that it’s in Queen’s. a friend went and said it was amazing, but she’d never had Tamil food before. anyone want to verify? also: have the kothu rotti. always. -
aziz
This is the best sermon about why pork (and shellfish) are haram I have ever heard – by Joel Osteen, evangelical Christian pastor in Houston.
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aziz
Now that I know presidential M&Ms exist, I have to wonder: would Allah M&Ms be blasphemous? consuming them might be an act of worship; the symbolic act of uniting with the divine. mmmm. divine….
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thabet
The new scramble for Africa:
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aziz
neat – customized candy! Wish I’d known about this before Eid.
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thabet
Eating too much curry can lead to a heart which looks like “a piece of lard pumping”.
Lack of exercise is a problem too.
(Via DeenPort.)
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thabet
Recipes thread: Post some of your favourite recipes.
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luckyfatima
Did any of you catch the episode of Tony in Saudi? As usual the show had sensational segments in which he ate the “weird stuff” that average Joes of whatever nation don’t usually eat—bugs in Cambodia and Mexico, pig anus in Colombia—this time it was lizard curry and roasted baby camel including the hump and none of the Saudis he was with had ever had either one. But they had more typical foods too, including a stop at Al Baik, the Saudi fried chicken joint. The show was surprisingly sensitive. I am wary of all the racist and Islamophobic barbs that spike any mainstream show that touches on Islam and/or the Middle East…I must say that I was expecting the worst. Tony was understandably curious and unapologetic about things he didn’t fully understand, but at the same time respectful and not the least bit patronizing or insulting. A pleasant surprise, really. He admitted that he didn’t know what to expect and that he had been propogandized to think of Saudi in only a negative light. He refers to Saudi Arabia as a country about which Americans have little understanding and even less sympathy. But he actually liked his trip. Catch it in a re-run if you can.
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thabet
This is bad science (my emphasis):
All food, organic or not, is made up of chemicals.
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aziz
Biofuels account for 75% of the rising cost of food worldwide? Can that be right?
NPR did a series on the food crisis a while back, which gave excellent background material.
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aziz
President Bush shows his solidarity to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq by giving up golf. He also blames India for the global food crisis (provoking a pointed response about American fat).
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aziz
What happens when a fire breaks out at the world’s largest chili market?
Stay the heck out of Hyderabad for a while, is my advice.
