Posted on 11/12/2008 1:14:22 PM PST by Nachum
(IsraelNN.com) The bankruptcy of the kosher meatpacking plant Agriprocessors, the largest American kosher meat operation, has forced many Jews to go vegetarian amid kosher-food shortages and soaring prices.
The Postville, Iowa plant had supplied more than half of the kosher meat for millions of Jews as well as non-Jews who prefer buying meat processed according to Jewish law. Federal investigators raided the plant in May and charged officials with violating immigration laws and hiring 389 illegal workers.
Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy this week after the resulting labor shortage left it unable to meet customer demand and forced a shutdown of its beef department, according to the Des Moines, Iowa Register. Charges that could result in multi-million dollar fines have been placed against the company's owners.
Nationwide shortages have forced many people to eat vegetarian meals on the Sabbath, when meat and chicken are a long-standing tradition. Many stores throughout the U.S. reported their meat cases were empty.
One rabbi told the KosherToday website, "This past Sabbath was the first in a long time that my wife made a pareve [non-meat] cholent," a stew usually consisting of meat or chicken, grains and potatoes. The rabbi added that he was hoping to haul home several boxes of meat when he goes on a trip to Brooklyn.
The large Empire Kosher Poultry company is trying to make up for the meat shortages and meet increasing demand for chicken but does not have a beef plant.
Agriprocessors, operating under bankruptcy laws, still is producing at a limited rate. This too may cease, however, because hundreds of the plant's workers are unable to pay their electricity bills and may have to leave their homes soon. The local energy company has agreed to a week's delay before cutting off power to the workers' homes but employees will not be able to stay in their houses without power as the winter approaches.
Kosher butchering is much more complex, including (if “glatt kosher” inspection of lungs).
Draining blood/Method of draining blood/drawing out blood(”kashering”)
removal of nerves
etc.
No.
As an aside, halal meat is dedicated to Allah, and would be, IMHO, meat sacrificed to idols, and thus forbidden (by most interpretations) to be eaten by Christians.
(Or at least discouraged to be eaten by Christians.)
See reply 36 & 38
Kosher is a LOT more than that. Meat has to be slaughtered and processed with a specific method that's slower than regular US methods and takes individual talent and knowledge. IOW, more expensive and takes a different set-up. And for observant Jews to eat meat from there the plant would have to be certified Kosher, not a quick process. It would take a while for another company to get up to speed and meet the demand.
“Most of the time the overpaid jerk isn;t even there, he just signs the paperwork”
That is very possible, there are frauds all over.
Our family always butchered its own meat for this reason (in part -— that, and we lived on a ranch in the boonies and FedEx didn’t deliver).
My non-kosher beef has increased in price to the point that the only time I get steak is in a restaurant when we can afford to go out. It’s ridiculous.
Hamburger is our staple beef product.
We feel your pain, Jews.
Please read response 36 & 38, you are right.
Did you slit the throat completely in one swift movement with a long non-serrated blade, allow it to bleed out, soak and salt it, and inspect it for disease that could have caused the animal to die a natural death within a year? I'm not even sure I have all the elements of Kosher slaughter there, someone here may correct me.
Benefits of having a Rabbi for a friend, you learn a lot. They never stop talking. :)
My uncle was an OU certified shochet for years.
I personally slaughtered many a lamb/sheep -— clean cut across the neck.
Not for the squeemish -— if you are not agressive, you hurt the animal, istead of killing it.
Distinct rules for hunted animals -— I actually preferred shooting a white tail for this reason.
They left out the violations of child labor laws, among other glossings over.
IIRC, pain = not kosher, right? I can see it would take a lot of talent to not go out of business, unless you can sell those ones to us goyim.
That said, yes, the goal for theological and practical reasons is a quick, painless, death.
Even if the cut isn’t painful, doesn’t the animal know that it’s bleeding and will die? Or are the animals not aware of their bleeding? If not, then I guess they just fade out without much suffering or fear.
The sad part of this story has nothing to do with food... and has everything to do with the continued (for nearly 200 years) for Jews to acknowledge that the Law has already been fulfilled - that the Messiah has already come. Faith in Jesus Christ means freedom from the condemnation of the law.
And freedom from such dietary restrictions...
ROFL...me too.
I’m one of the “goyem”, but I know there’s a LOT more to it than that. I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian and have used some kosher products and looked into others. Sadly, I learned that “pareve” jello and marshmallows are made with beef gelatin, so from my point of view not edible. They somehow pass kosher pareve standards by being hyperprocessed.
When you do it right, you cut the trachea, the esophagus, and jugular vein in about 1/2 second. They kick and die in about another 1/2 second, as the blood poors out pretty dramatically.
It’s not pleasant, but I am not aware of any more humane way of killing something.
They could eat Tofurkey!;o) I understand from our vegetarian son that it's not too bad. He's also tried the Tofurkey brand kielbasa sausage, and said it's pretty good, too.
TOfurkey is not all tofu; it's a mixture of tofu and seitan, which is a wheat gluten product, which supposedly has a similar consistency to meat. I bought some Tofurkey Italian style sausage, and I'm going to try it on some homemade pizza.
Kosher geletin is made from tapioca.
Non-kosher geletin is made from connective tissue. Doesn’t matter if the tissue is from a cow; connective tissue is forbidden.
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