France is ridiculous

[lima_pcp]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599196729900

You (local politicians) are going to scream 'discrimination' against non-Muslim customers because a burger joint decides to use turkey instead of bacon?

Seriously?

Comments

[doc_neuro]

Interestingly enough there are similar issues in Israel due to the fact that there are certain populations and communities who will only eat at certified Kosher restaurants. In order to get that certification you have to conform to certain policies in the kitchen, serve kosher certified food products, and of course you can't be open on the sabbath. It gets to be a tricky issue business wise when on principle a restaurant owner wants to stay open on weekends and not be a slave to what they see as an orthodox power base's extortionist demands. But when you make that call you essentially narrow your customer base by excluding a whole group of people who cannot eat there due to the dietary restrictions of their religious beliefs. Seculars, on the other hand, can just as easily eat at a Kosher restaurant as a non-kosher one. Those people without the Kashrut stamp basically cannot do business in orthodox neighborhoods because nobody in those neighborhoods will eat there.

It strikes me that they are facing similar business issues with Halal in France. Obviously this belgian fast food chain wants to do business in the muslim neighborhood. Well to do that and get the Halal stamp they have to make a slight change to their menu, and then all of a sudden they can double their business. But in no way does that stop seculars and non-muslims from eating there. In fact given what I pointed out to Ryan about the quality of the meats it should by all rights be a selling point.