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Q&A
Discussion on halal certification process and contract requirements for food vendors
0:40:44
·
3 min
Council Member Amanda Farías engages in a Q&A session with panel members about the halal certification process for food vendors in NYC shelters. The discussion covers certification requirements, monitoring processes, and consequences for non-compliance.
- Jill Berry explains that RC Stillwell is certified by the American Halal Foundation
- All vendors must be able to provide halal, kosher, vegetarian, and other required meals
- Monitoring responsibilities are shared between DHS and shelter providers
- The panel outlines the process for addressing non-compliance, starting with corrective action plans
Kate MacKenzie
0:40:44
Thank you so much for that question.
0:40:46
Unfortunately, our colleagues from health and hospitals could not be present today.
0:40:50
I think they were asked on Friday, but we can certainly follow-up on that.
Amanda Farías
0:40:54
Sherwood, do you folks know the process certification for an entity of a food vending contract that has to be whether the contractor themselves are certified to do kosher, halal, vegetarian, vegan, etcetera, and what what that means to the contracts
Kate MacKenzie
0:41:07
I don't wanna speak for H and H, but perhaps Ray or Jill, can you speak to the DHS process?
Jill Berry
0:41:15
Sure.
0:41:16
The and I can I can speak specifically to RC Stillwell is certified by the American Halal Foundation?
0:41:25
So we have a we have a few in our policy, we have a few specific certifications for halal and for kosher that we accept, and the vendors have to follow one of those certifications.
Amanda Farías
0:41:37
Does every single one of the vending contracts that we look at have to offer at least one of them?
Jill Berry
0:41:42
They all have to be able to provide halal meals, kosher meals, vegetarian meals, and other meals as required by our clients.
Amanda Farías
0:41:50
What's our criteria of enforcement or monitoring to make sure that it's implemented well?
Jill Berry
0:41:57
So for the contracts that we directly monitor, we are looking to see those copies of those certifications and we are reviewing that as we're doing the quality of the meal, reviewing quality of meals.
0:42:11
For the shelter providers, they are responsible for monitoring their subcontracted vendors.
0:42:17
They're responsible for implementing the food policy and ensuring that people are that that their vendors are, in the case of halal meals, providing appropriately certified halal meals, and we provide guidance to the shelters on what certifications are acceptable.
Amanda Farías
0:42:35
Sure.
0:42:35
I just wanna acknowledge that we've been joined by consulam Braviles.
0:42:39
And and then okay.
0:42:41
And so in terms of within the bid or within the contract, once it's given to a vendor, there you were saying the onus is on them, the responsibility is on them to make sure they're subcontractors or how ever their certification goes through for Halal or any of the other options are monitored and implemented that way.
0:43:03
What what's the part of the contract if we get instances where they're not following that guideline?
0:43:09
Does the contract get removed?
0:43:10
Is there a suspension of services?
0:43:13
What's the penalty if any at all for anyone that is found to not be serving the type of food that they're supposed to be certified in serving?
Jill Berry
0:43:21
So for any of our contracts including when subcontractor poor performance is brought to our attention, always the first option is to work with the vendor to try to get them to correct what was wrong with the contract and to provide the services that we are contracting for that we are paying for.
0:43:42
That is always the first option.
0:43:45
And if the vendor is unwilling, unable to comply with the terms of the contract we can put them on a corrective action plan.
Julie Won
0:43:54
So it's come to our attention for both of us from the Muslim community that the current certification process that the city is using for certain agencies like H and H is not verified.