That's just not kosher

I'm not one to weigh in with views on religious tolerance and accommodation -- generally. But this item from the Toronto Star makes me wonder. Particularly the quotes below. (Story: 'Muslim-style' meals won't fly) Apparently there is question about whether the meals -- even the special-order meals for Muslims are up to religious code for dietary requirement (halal). As this article is about Muslim meals, there's no mention whether the meals for Jews are truly kosher. The best paragraphs, from my POV, are these:

Air Canada should get its meals certified by religious scholars, said Sheikh Omar Subedar, head of the halal department of the Canadian Council of Muslim Theologians, an organization representing more than 100 Islamic scholars in Canada.

Muslim consumers "should demand" to know if the food they are served is up to halal standards, he said.

Let me see if I've got this straight: Getting food at all on many flights is a challenge. There are "strict dietary requirements" for many religions in the world, for which an airline -- whose business is moving people not feeding them in proper religious form -- ought to have religious scholars ensure compliance for each religion's peculiarities. This sounds like the start of an argument toward zero meals at all on any flight at any time. As the airline cuts costs and services, why bother dealing with this when it would just be simpler to discontinue all meals?

In the event that they do keep serving meals on selected routes, I think it should be fish on Friday flights.

Posted by Grayson at June 3, 2005 07:25 AM