As more and more Danish institutions are banning pork from their menus out of respect for a growing Muslim population, the city of Randers has done the complete opposite by making it a mandatory menu item.
Randers’ city council passed the new law in a narrow 16-15 vote Monday. City officials voting in favor of the proposal said it is a necessary move to secure an important piece of Danish food culture.
The Danish People’s Party, which runs an anti-immigration agenda, hopes Randers’ initiative will encourage more communities to pass similar laws.
“The DPP is working nationally and locally for Danish culture, including Danish food culture, and consequently we also fight against Islamic rules and misguided considerations dictating what Danish children eat,” DPP spokesman Martin Henriksen wrote on Facebook.
The so-called “meatball war” stems from the summer of 2013, when politicians were debating whether or not there is a place for pork at public institutions with a growing Muslim population. It was estimated that 30 out of 1,719 public institutions had banned pork, at the time, which led people to question if Danish values were in danger.
The war was revived again last week when Integration Minister Inger Stojberg made up an anecdote about a family removing their child from a daycare after it banned pork.
“We just want to ensure pork in our institutions for those who want it,”DPP councilman Frank Norgaard tsaid after the vote, according to The Local. “This isn’t about a general distrust of our institutions’ leaders, but more and more places around the country are trying to sneak through [policies that say] there shouldn’t be pork served in the institutions.”
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