Ohio producers object to prison pork ban

Monday, February 20, 2012

While a Michigan company sold pork to prisons in Ohio, that state's pork producers and processors were upset when pork was banned from being served to prisoners.

The ban came into place after two Muslim death row prisoners sued federal wardens for not offering halal food options when kosher foods were offered to Jewish prisoners. California, Florida, Maryland and Massachusetts already quit serving pork, according to meatingplace.com. Ohio is the eighth largest pork-producing state, with 3,700 farms producing four million hogs a year.

An Associated Press story says the prisoners' lawsuit isn't really about serving pork, so much as it is about serving meals produced using handling requirements, which are different again from kosher requirements.

Ohio has taken away pork before – in 2009, when it closed the pig farm and abattoir it operated to provide food for inmates. As a result of producer lobbying, pork patties were added to the menus twice a month.

The AP story says Abdul Awkal launched the suit. Awkal, scheduled to be executed June 6, was convicted of murdering his estranged 22-year-old wife and his 24-year-old brother-in-law in 1992 after she filed for divorce and custody of their 16-month-old daughter. BP