Halal Meals on the Rise in Dearborn Schools

More than half of the 32 schools in the Dearborn, MI, public school district offer halal meal options for students, reports the Dearborn Patch. Halal is a dietary regimen followed by observant Muslims that is similar to kosher rules followed by observant Jews. Some Dearborn school sites have Arab American populations in excess of 90 percent, school officials say, with many coming from traditional Muslim families. The biggest cost associated with the initiative is the greater price of halal meat, but the increase has been offset with greater participation numbers, school officials told the Patch.