Sheep farm fills growing local need for halal meats
Kim Macdougall has had sheep for more than 30 years and he and his family have filled a niche need for Regina’s immigrant population by providing halal meat for almost as long.
They started out butchering for a few close friends, but as Regina’s immigrant population grew, so did the market for halal meat.
Now they butcher anywhere between 15 and 45 head a week in a certified halal abattoir.
“With the influx of immigrants coming over, their chief sources of meat are different than what we eat here in Canada,” said Kim from his stall at the Canadian Western Agribition on Saturday morning.
Arabic for permissible, halal food is food that adheres to Islamic law, as defined in the Koran.
When it comes to butchering meat, there are strict guidelines for each step of processing.
“Growing up, it’s always neat because your culture diversity is expanded,” said Kim’s daughter Courtney Macdougall, who was also at Agribition to show and sell sheep.
“You have a better awareness of the individuals who live around you ... as well as an appreciation for their festivities and traditions.”
Both Kim and Courtney noticed an increase in the demand for halal meat as more immigrants came to Regina and halal grocery stores began popping up. Now, they supply several of those stores.
“It all comes down to ... how they’re sacrificed,” said Courtney. “You need a Muslim to do it.”
The sacrifice is always the same, with the animal facing in the direction of the holy Muslim city of Mecca, “praying on the knife” and giving its life up to Allah.
“From there, it’s a matter of ... how you’re dressing the carcass,” she said. “For their different holidays there’s different protocols.”
As a mother, she said exposing her kids to different cultures and traditions is important. Sometimes customers will even bring food to the farm, sharing their traditional cuisine with the Macdougall family. Their kids will often play together.
“To me it’s just expanding their education, which is always a plus,” said Courtney.
Other than the hide, customers use pretty much every part of the animal. “It’s also interesting that way because there’s not a lot of waste,” she said, adding it’s another important lesson she’s able to teach her kids.
Any waste that is left behind gets composted, returned back to Mother Earth, said Courtney. Hides are incinerated.
“It’s very labour intensive and dad’s not getting any younger, but besides the business part, it’s more than that to our family,” she said.
“It also becomes time for family. The whole time that you’re butchering, it’s those moments that you’re making memories.”
Kim says having the certified halal abattoir is a good option for people wanting to sell halal meat over a retail counter because of the strict regulations around production.
To remain certified, Kim has the farm’s water tested for E. coli at the University of Regina every three months.
“It’s not going anywhere,” said Kim of the halal meat market. “Those people are here and they ’re Canadians. So there will be a need for that for the foreseeable future.”
Kim and his wife run Kimdain Sheep alongside Courtney and one of her siblings, who run Mackid’s Sheep.
Both businesses, which also have goats, run on the family ranch located just outside Regina on Highway 11.