4. Conclusions •
Issues relating to religious slaughter and to the consumption of kosher and halal foods received a reasonable amount of media coverage (36 articles) in the 3 UK newspapers surveyed in the past two years (31/5/2006 to 1/6/2008).
•
Stories relating to, or mentioning, religious slaughter or the consumption of kosher/halal foods occurred within many different types of article including; news articles, feature articles, media articles, education articles, financial articles, sport articles and guest articles.
•
The distribution of newspaper articles over time indicates that whilst there were no really big news events relating to these issues over this time period (which could have sparked controversy and generated increased debate) there was instead a steady trickle of news and feature articles, which points to the enduring relevance of these issues.
•
Within the UK, newspaper articles that adopt a particular stance in relation to issues of religious slaughter and to the consumption of halal and kosher foods tend to do so in relation to issues of identity, and social integration/segregation rather than in relation to animal welfare issues.
•
Whilst left-wing newspapers such as The Guardian broadly support the consumption of halal and kosher foods as a sign of pluralism and multiculturalism, right-wing newspapers, such as The Daily Mail tend to express a concern that the consumption of halal (along with an adherence to other facets of Muslim religious culture) could lead to problems of social segregation and to an erosion of mainstream British culture.
•
Many themes emerged within articles related to religious slaughter and to the consumption of halal and kosher foods. The most important themes included; food-identity (and in particular integration/segregation), which occurred 14 times; the expanding market for halal food (10 times); big Muslim/Jewish events and the special preparations that are required (5 times); and animal welfare (3 times). These themes often form the larger contexts in which and through which issues of religious slaughter and the consumption of halal and kosher foods are framed. For example, economic articles about the growing importance of the market for halal foods tended to be fairly neutral in tone, whereas articles that mentioned halal foods in the context of broader debates about social segregation tended to be far more opinionated.
24