Muslims studying abroad often ask one crucial question before deciding on what and where to eat: “Is it halal?”
In places where Islam is a minority religion, halal food options are often scarce and hard to find.
A 2022 study shows that Muslim student groups are located at only 28% of US colleges and universities – a number that is low for a country that says it triumphs in diversity. On the same note, a 2024 study found that 43% of US higher education institutions do not serve food suitable for Muslims to consume.
A woman wearing a hijab walks on a street with a Stalin-era skyscraper in the background in downtown Moscow. Source: AFP
Food is fuel. You can’t expect to trek an uphill battle of assignments, perhaps a part-time job, and life responsibilities without your engine running. Yet, for some Muslim students, that lack of fuel isn’t a scarcity by choice.
For Muslims, halal food isn’t an option — it’s a law by faith. The word “halal” is Arabic for “lawful or permitted,” and it doesn’t only apply to food. It refers to actions, objects, and foods allowed by Islamic law for Muslims to participate in.
In terms of food, it’s a fairly straightforward rule book. No pork. No alcohol. No meat that isn’t slaughtered according to Islamic dietary laws. Products and eateries that are 100% halal should have a certification displayed.
The problem at hand: the lack of access to halal food in non-Muslim countries.
The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reported that 53% of Muslim university students in the US faced food insecurity on their campuses. In the UK, food price hikes are sending millions of Muslims into dire need through Ramadan.
Whether it’s easy to source halal food off-campus depends on where you live.
If you’re in London, England, you’re more spoilt for choice. It’s one of the more halal-friendly Western cities, with loads of kosher and halal food shops. In Canada, Muslims make up only 1.10% of the country’s population — so it’s a harder task to broach.
In the US, the possibility’s a total toss-up, depending on your location.
One Quora user writes: “Where I live, in California, there are quite a few Muslims. You can find some halal items at large chain stores, but you can also find large selections of fresh halal meats at the Middle Eastern markets.”
It was a different story when they travelled to Nevada, however.
“I was hoping to find a store that sold halal foods. I ended up going to a ‘kebab and gyro’ place that claimed to have halal foods, but based on the staff and people eating there, I still kinda doubt it was,” they continued. “I couldn’t find any markets either that had halal snacks, but I never checked the large chain stores.”
That’s another issue — if there’s no halal certification at a market restaurant, then there’s no guarantee that each and every ingredient used is lawful. A restaurant may have a sign front and centre saying “no pork, no lard,” but is the chicken or beef slaughtered right?
It brings this constant speculation that can be tiresome to deal with day-to-day.
Sourcing halal food, however, isn’t the only tribulation sweeping through those who identify as Muslim.
Studying abroad means leaving your loved ones behind, which also means you won’t be spending Ramadan with the people you’ve always spent it with. Source: AFP
Studying abroad often brings an onslaught of loneliness spurred by being homesick. The feeling amplifies during Ramadan, when you lack the community you once had — especially if you can’t opt for university dining with your friends.
“I won’t deny that the experience can be isolating at times,” an international student wrote on The Pride. “While I managed to establish a routine that allowed me to balance my academic workload with other commitments, one aspect that continually weighed on me was the extreme loneliness I felt when preparing my Iftar (meal to break the fast) and breaking fast alone within the confines of my room.”
It’s not only lonely to fast when studying abroad, it’s also just so long. It depends on what country you’re in, and the season. As Ramadan starts 10 to 12 days earlier each year, the experience varies — based on how much daylight you get.
This year, people in northernmost countries like Iceland or Greenland will fast for 16 hours or more. In the southernmost, like Chile and New Zealand, it’s about 13 hours. Shorter days in winter make for shorter days of fasting. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer is a long stretch of long fasting hours up until the summer solstice.
Between 2015 and 2017, the rise in Islamophobia was most rampant, even going to the lengths of physical attacks on Muslim people. The sad part: it hasn’t slowed. In 2024, United Nations experts issued a warning on the rise of Islamophobia to “alarming levels.”
In the same year, nearly half of the Muslim students surveyed at California institutions faced harassment within the year — making it the worst anti-Muslim bigotry in 30 years. In Europe, women who wear religious attire are especially affected by racism and discrimination in their lives.
That’s not to discount whatever’s happening online, either. According to the New York Times, in 2023, the hashtag #DeathtoMuslims was shared thousands of times at the height of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Find your community — they’ll be able to help you. Source: AFP
A lot of universities have student communities and organisations that cater to Muslims.
Some universities in the US and Canada have the Muslim Students Association dedicated to establishing and maintaining Islamic societies on college campuses, as well as unifying Muslim students from different cultural backgrounds.
In the UK and Ireland, there is the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, which provides support and a platform for Muslim students to connect and engage with each other.
These communities are great sources to guide and suggest halal food available both in and out of your campus.
Your student union is also a place to ask for information regarding halal food.
Consisting of elected student representatives, they are knowledgeable about various aspects of college life, student concerns, and campus policies, including halal food in university dining.
But if your campus does not serve halal food, the student union is the one who will raise awareness, advocating for change to cater to Muslims on campus.
Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang are provinces in China with the most Muslim population. Source: AFP
Other than recommending some halal spots to eat, most mosques prepare food for you, especially during the fasting month.
Another option is to visit cities, towns, or even neighbourhoods that have a sizeable Muslim population. According to Reddit users, Chicago is one of the biggest and best places to be for a Muslim, with masjids, Islamic schools, and halal food being easy to find.
Other examples include Birmingham in the UK (a third of its population are Muslims), Toronto and Montreal in Canada (two-thirds are Canadian Muslims), and China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces (with the greatest number of Muslims).
The University of Michigan collaborates with the school’s Muslim Coalition to serve halal food for Muslim students, with dining staff undertaking “extensive food handling and procurement practices.”
Other university dining that serve halal food include:
You can find halal food in university dining at the University of Bath. Source: University of Bath/Facebook
The University of Bath hosts The Market, which offers both vegan and halal food at good deals — like a chicken tikka sandwich — according to a student on ResLife.
Here are some of the other universities in the UK that serve halal food:
At the University of Western Australia, the dining hall chefs serve a variety of foods through breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including those which cater to halal dietary needs. The menu changes daily, so you’ll unlikely get bored of the food too.
University dining in Australia that serves halal food:
The University of Guelph offers halal food in its university dining. Source: University of Guelph/Facebook
At the University of Toronto, employees are trained on halal food law — done according to the regulations set by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA). They serve meats and products sourced from “Zahiba” animals, meaning they are slaughtered according to Islamic law.
Other universities that do the same are:
Enquire to study in the UK 
