Halal food for all

Halal Pastures has opened up a second location within the Astor Place Greenmarket that operates between E 8th St. and Lafayette every Tuesday. Halal Pastures is a farming business originally located in Rock Tavern, New York that produces halal food items for Muslim communities.

Halal Pastures was founded seven years ago by Diane Aboushi and Samer Saleh to increase halal food availability for nearby Muslim communities. According to studies by the Arab-American Family Support Center, 62% of businesses surveyed in the New York City area didn’t include a halal food option for Muslim community members. In response to halal-food disadvantages such as this, Muslim community members such as Muhsin Sayeed wanted to make a change by partnering with Halal Pastures.

“I was interested in farming and producing organic food, primarily serving the Muslim community where there isn’t that much available in terms of organic produce and meat because we have specific meat requirements,” Sayeed said. “For example, going to Whole Foods to buy organic meat won’t really work for the Muslim community, so there was a need for Halal Pastures.”

The term halal refers to the poultry and meat products being prepared and eaten by the Muslim community. For meat to be halal, the animal must be slaughtered by hand by a Muslim, who says a prayer while draining the blood completely, allowing for a less painful death for the animal. Sayeed says that this practice is maintained and visible in the meat products sold by Halal Pastures.

“The chicken is air-chilled and the beef is dry-aged so both of those improve the quality of the food,” Sayeed said. “The animals are also fed organically and slaughtered the halal way which we believe is reflected in the meat. These products are very palatable and easy to make, making them more appealing to the consumer.”

In addition to the uniquely prepared meat products being sold, Halal Pastures sells a variety of vegetables and fruits that are also made organically.

“We only use non-GMO organic seeds, we don’t use any chemical pesticides or fertilizers, and anything that does go bad is given to the chickens so we don’t waste much food,” Sayeed said. “We also try to have some varieties that people don’t normally see such as the sugar dumpling squash, red-noodled beans, and five different kinds of eggplants.”

Noor Abdelhamid, Greenwich Village resident, said that having a halal-food market so close by has proven to be very beneficial for her.

“This is my second time coming to [Halal Pastures] and it's honestly a great business to have as a Muslim,” Abdelhamid said. “It’s helpful to do fruit and vegetable shopping while shopping for meat as well, it's like killing two birds with one stone.”

With Halal Pastures’ presence on NYU’s campus, second-year NYU student Sulekha Osman said that having a halal-food option nearby has made it easier for her as a student from out of state.

“I think [Halal Pastures] is beneficial for the Muslim community to have a business like this in the area because I feel like there aren’t many businesses around where we can buy halal items as students who are new to the area,” Osman said. “I’ve been hearing about different places in Brooklyn but it's nice to have a location so close to me, I will definitely be going to [Halal Pastures] more.”