Philadelphia: Muslim Woman Bringing Halal Home with Affordable Frozen Meals
Lavaughn Jones converted to Islam in her 20s and was struggling to find a quick meal to make for her two kids that upheld their religious beliefs while also combining their American roots.
“I'm going to make an easy halal tasty meal for single parents, busy moms,” she said, CBS News reported. “There's a lot of misconceptions. People think that Muslims are just foreigners but no, you have millions of Muslim Americans that were born in America.”
Jones's best friend and business partner Danieltta Pantoe says out of all the frozen meal options at stores just 5% are halal.
“Halal is a method of slaughtering,” Pantoe said. “Halal means permissible.”
Jones's halal meals cater to the growing number of Muslim American families wanting a home-cooked style meal.
“Although Islam is our religion, we still have an American culture,” Jones said.
After working with a ShopRite business incubator program, Aruba's Halal Kitchen meals finally hit the frozen food section in April inside 10 grocery stores.
It's a meal that Jones is making sure can also be affordable to working-class Muslim families.
“So, I wanted to have that option to go into the grocery store and buy this meal with my food stamps card,” Jones said. “I've experienced it. I know other parents have experienced the same thing. Here you go girl, or here you go dad. I know the struggle. This is for you.”
Halal food is food that is allowed for Muslims to eat according to Islamic law. Halal means permissible in Arabic. Halal food must be made, processed, and stored using clean equipment and utensils. It must also be free from any ingredient that is forbidden for Muslims to eat.
Some of the forbidden ingredients are pork, blood, alcohol, and animals that are not slaughtered properly. Halal food also involves a humane way of slaughtering animals by cutting their jugular vein and letting the blood drain out.
Halal food is not only a religious requirement, but also a way of showing respect and care for animals and nature.
Source: Agencies
