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The Kosher Industry Couldn’t Care Less

by Leah Koenig · June 3rd, 2008

Agriprocessors, Animal Care, Food Justice, Health, Kosher, Meat, News, Rant!

I found this in my inbox today - a little note from Kosher Today (the kosher industry’s spokes-organization) that indicates exactly how little they care about anything except whether “its good for the Jews.” Be forewarned, gentle readers - if you have a sensitive stomach or any sort of soul, the following passage will leave you feeling queasy.

Kosher Community Looks Beyond Agriprocessors Raid

“New York…For most retailers around the country, the recent raid at the Postville Agriprocessors plant is about supply and price, but otherwise they do not see any repercussions for the industry as a whole. For the most part, retailers say the supply has been virtually uninterrupted and prices have stayed the same. Agri products are featured in many ads in advance of the holiday of Shavuos (June 9-10) and most retailers say that they have not seen any change in consumer habits as a result of the federal raid in Postville. There is no evidence of any boycott of Agri products whatsoever, they say.

Mendy Bauman of Glatt Mart in Flatbush told Jewish journalists that virtually none of his customers even bothered to ask which of his meats were from Agri. Sources in Postville say that Agri has been adding laborers and stepping up production with every passing day.

For the most part there were few reported shortages, although in some markets, customers say that they noticed that shelves are not being filled as rapidly with the delay being a day or two at most. Retailers say that they do not expect the Agri raid to have an impact on the rapidly growing kosher market. ‘So long as Agri continues to provide a good product at a decent price, they’ll do well,’ said one Chicago retailer. He said that customers were initially concerned about supply but it appears to be business as usual. Distributors say that there will be ample product available for Shavuos. There were also assurances that there would be no shortage of provisions for the summer barbecuing season.

In other headline news from Kosher Today…”Cheesecake Recipes are a Big Hit this Shavuos”

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16 Responses to “The Kosher Industry Couldn’t Care Less”

Tovah Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:48 am
Ugh. Yeah. I am pretty sure the guy who does this newsletter is Agri’s PR person - He runs Lubicom Marketing, the firm hired to deal with the fallout from the PETA scandal. I wouldn’t expect anything different from him. I also receive this newsletter and I roll my eyes at most of what he says. I especially love the part about how there’s no sign of a boycott. Bull. Few people I know are buying Rubashkin’s anymore. There may not be a largescale boycott but other articles have indicated many butchers saying they are receiving a lot of inquiries about whether their meat is from Agriprocessors.
Larry Lennhoff Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Kosher Today doesn’t represent the whole kosher industry any more than The Jew and The Carrot speaks for the entire organic food industry. It is one viewpoint from one person - not even an organization. And Tovah is correct - the publisher of Kosher Today runs Lubicom Marketing, which has handled publicity for the Rubashkins for years.
Leah Koenig Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
You’re right Larry - Kosher Today doesn’t represent the entire kosher industry, but it is darn well a representative voice (it’s intimately connected with Kosher Fest - by far the largest annual gathering of kosher companies in America). I’m not suggesting its representative of all/most kosher keepers or even all kosher companies, but it has definitely leveraged itself as a leading voice of the industry.

Interestingly, after claiming that there was no boycott, Kosher Today linked to this article on their front page:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/S.....e/ShowFull
Laura Frankel Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:49 pm
As someone who has been working on the front lines in kosher food and with rabbis for over a decade, I can attest to the fact that the word kosher only applies to the food. It has virtually nothing to do with morality which in my mind is anti-religious. Like many aspects of life, people don’t want to get involved. As long as the schechting process is performed-it is kosher.

We who are more concerned with what is right and what is just have to make the difference. That starts with boycotts, learning and a lot politicking.
I am the purchasing agent for our catering kitchens and I have not bought Agri products for months when I first heard murmurings of sketchy practices.

We all need to get involved and take it seriously.
Alix Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Thanks for posting this, Leah, and I love the kicker. This is absolutely disheartening, but I can’t say I am surprised. I found myself actually describing myself as “anti-kosher” to a friend recently; I have many reasons why, which I’ve mentioned before here on this blog, but hearing things like this just makes me more emphatically so.
Michael Croland Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:02 pm
There have been numerous occasions when I’ve been irked by what I’ve seen in Kosher Today. But sometimes they have interesting tidbits. All in all, you just have keep the bias in mind and see it for what it is.

These two July 2007 Failed Messiah posts (about how Kosher Today doesn’t exactly meet journalistic standards) are pretty interesting:

http://tinyurl.com/4qy5ma
http://tinyurl.com/3tkwuz
Rabbi Shmuel Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:51 pm
“Interestingly, after claiming that there was no boycott, Kosher Today linked to this article on their front page:”

“One of the most interesting articles I’ve read since the raid is writer Ben Harris’ account of his personal interactions with Sholom Rabushkin, as noted on The JTA’s blog, The Telegraph”

Leah, we must be living in interesting times. The Harris piece could have been a plot from “Seinfeld” – it essentially said nothing. However a few tidbits were indeed “interesting” as you say. Here are a few juicy nuggets:

“Yes, I lied, hoping to convince him of my piety, and thus my trustworthiness.”
“Reporters are in no way bound by an after-the-fact request to keep things off the record. Still, I figured, it was worth keeping quiet if silence would get me a tour of the plant and a potentially more insightful interview later on.”

So perhaps a better name than “Sholom & Me” (“Roger & Me” was at least informative and entertaining) might have been “An account of my ethical lapses in search of a story about alleged ethical lapses.”

To paraphrase Alix “This is absolutely disheartening, but I can’t say I am surprised. I found myself actually describing myself as “anti-journalism” to a friend recently.”

Interesting.
Hannah Lee Says:
June 4th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Touche’, Rabbi Shmuel. People live by the values they hold most dear. Investigative reporters seek out their story– at times with questionnable ethical tactics– because they hold “truth” as they see it as paramount.
Rabbi Shmuel Says:
June 4th, 2008 at 8:18 am
“Interestingly, after claiming that there was no boycott, Kosher Today linked to this article on their front page:”

BTW - Leah, from a writing POV why does the word “interesting” come to mind. Ordinarily when an editor takes a position arguably at odds with those who sign his paycheck in the name of fairness and balance, words like “courageous” or “heroic” are usually employed.
Could it have to do with subtle (or nor too subtle) bias by the wordsmith who while crafting the article understands that s/he is shaping the public debate as well?
Stated another way – The puff piece on Rabbi Allen to the rescue uses the phrase “Rabbi Allen “said” (7 times), Rabbi Allen “commented” (twice), Rabbi Allen “described” “quoted” “suggested”. Yet Lubinsky “claimed”?

From the number of “agriposts” lately (running about 50%) pretty soon Jcarrot will be the round the clock source for Postville news perhaps warranting a new by-line - “All Agriprocessors - All the time”
Leah Koenig Says:
June 4th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Rabbi Shmuel,

It is hurtful and I think incorrect for you to call the report on Rabbi Allen’s experiences and observations a “puff piece.” However, Aaron Rubashkin coming out yesterday saying “it’s all lies?” I’m not suggesting that Agriprocessors is as evil as the media portrays (I’m not suggesting its not either). But I will “claim” that that statement is a puff - of hot air.
Rabbi Shmuel Says:
June 4th, 2008 at 9:44 am
If I mischaracterized your piece then I apologize. But you don’t address my “claim” that your choice of words (and I know that you aspire to be a responsible journalist), a “claim” that I have substantiated in my post (btw, the use of the word “claim” in a vacuum typically carries with it a taint of less than truthfulness) that your choice of words paints its own portrait above and beyond the underlying message. Would I be safe in assuming that the word “claim” would not appear in any one of your columns about Michael Pollan? If I wanted nothing but spin, I could blog with Failed Messiah all day & night.

Look, I’ve got no dog in this fight - I have an ethical standard that I wouldn’t eat food prepared in such a way and under such circumstances that I myself wouldn’t do it. I spent time in Postville and saw first hand the circumstances under which the meat was produced. It’s crappy work by any stretch of the imagination. Working with slippery, viscous animal parts and sharp knives and motorized saws is certainly not for the faint of heart. I myself have had a number of farm/forest related accidents, nearly losing a finger (tough for a guitarist), breaking my back in 1988, opening up my knee and then there are the big ones:) I’m simply pointing out that the spinmeisters are busy on both sides of the fence, not just Rubashkins. Someone has to be an honest broker in this thing.

On an unrelated note(??)I too laughed when I read the old man Rubashkin’s comments as well as those of the passerbyes - they’re obviously in some sort of denial - (well it looks like ole’ Ben Harris got his story after all.) Look, I too am troubled by many of these allegations. But by the same token, they have fueled an entire “kaddish industry” of conspiracy seekers (e.g. Agri staged the raid with ICE to beat the union????). I don’t expect objectivity from Lubicom - they Agri’s spokespersons. I thought I might find more objectivity here. Perhaps I was mistaken. My apologies.
Leah Koenig Says:
June 4th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Rab Shmuel,

Listening to Rabbi Allen talk, it was clear that he was “suggesting” and “saying,” and giving both points of view of the story - yes he’s got his opinion and he’s not impartial (who is?) but I don’t think he was “claiming.”

The statement written above in the Kosher Today report:

“There is no evidence of any boycott of Agri products whatsoever, they say.”

is a claim. It’s also not true.
hershey Says:
June 4th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
It’s been interesting to see the “wall of black” lining up to allege bias against anyone who investigates Rubashkin’s. For a company who’s displaced hundreds of local kosher butchers, been regularly accused of abuse to both man and beast, an objective person would have put the burden of proof on Rubashkin’s to prove their claims. But instead the people who care about kashrut and its ethical implications are attacked. This is not Denmark, and no one here is trying to close down scheita or stop the sale of kosher meat. But the reputation of a schochet as a “ben torah” has always been his calling card, and no “ben torah” I know would ever allow his business to be run like Rubashkins, with allegations coming again and again.
Where is the transparency? Every kosher butcher should be proud to show how his business is run. Empire is, and despite the blood and mess, people can tour the facilities to see the Torah’s take on slaughter.
What I hear again and again is a sole focus on the cost and cleanliness of the meat? Is that all that matters for kashrut? Why is it any better than non-kosher meat again? Because we slit the throat instead of killing it faster with a plug to the brain?
Since Rubashkin is a Lubavitcher and concerned about kiruv, why are they not concerned that the controversy is turning non-orthodox Jews away from kashrut? I know these stories only make me more comfortable with my decision to avoid kosher meat in favor of humanely raised and slaughtered alternatives. Would it matter to them if they knew that they were pushing jews away from kashrut?
judi Says:
June 5th, 2008 at 5:30 am
I didn’t see it mentioned here, but Lubinsky and Kosheworld run the Kosher Food Expo, the yearly kosher product mega-summit held in NYC at the Javits Center.
judi Says:
June 5th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Sorry, meant Kosher Today (still early…)
Michael Croland Says:
June 5th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Here’s a quote from Menachem Lubkinsky of Kosher Today that’s very telling. It’s from a Failed Messiah post (tinyurl.com/5t4wyt) from earlier this week:

“For those who expected an independent news vehicle for everything that involves kosher, that certainly did not fit the mission of Kosher Today. Our editorial view was always and continues to be to support the industry, including our exhibitors at Kosherfest, and to protect the supply of kosher foods. … If any reader is looking for a ‘balanced’ and multi-dimensional view of kosher, it will not be Kosher Today. . . . Interestingly enough, I cannot recall the last time we received a letter of complaint from an industry representative, which would seem to indicate that as far as the industry is concerned, we have been true to our mission.”