Where's the (Kosher) Beef?
An ICE raid at the AgriProcessors plant in Postville, Iowa last week has raised concerns about a kosher meat shortage, according to the Jewish Daily Forward. The raid seriously affected the plant's workforce—the article reports that the raid detained nearly 400 of the plant's 968 employees and caused others to go into hiding. The detainees are mostly from Mexico and Guatemala, though an ICE spokesperson said they also detained three Israelis and four Ukrainians (perhaps the rabbis responsible for kosher supervision?).
Since the plant apparently produces a significant percentage of the glatt kosher beef sold in the U.S., consumers fear that kosher meat prices will climb even higher. Kosher industry consultant Menachem Lubinsky told the Forward that "There’s been a little bit of hoarding going on."
Meanwhile, some detainees are alleging abuse by the plant, claiming that their employers subjected them to verbal abuse and withheld $50 per paycheck for so-called "immigration fees." Eighteen of the detainees were also minors, including some as young as thirteen—which makes it kind of ironic that, according to the Jewish Daily Forward, "15 or 20 yeshiva students have flown out to Iowa from Brooklyn to help out with the slaughter."
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
3 Comments:
I gather from reading the Iowa papers that some sort of shakedown at Agriprocessors has been a long time coming. Along with the immigration issues the company had problems with workplace safety, environmental violations, sexual harassment and even trouble paying their workers on time. The meatpacking plant employees were a big part of the population in Postville, and the tiny burg might become a ghost town without them.
If there could be a silver lining to this it would be that kosher meat customers might demand that Agriprocessors clean up its act. Shady business practices in meat processing isn't limited to Agriprocessors, but Jews who keep kosher would have pull with the company. Whether anyone has pull with the immigration authorities who authorized the raid and the deportations is another question.
mslaas at 5:10PM on 05/21/08
"whether anyone has pull with the immigration authorities who authorized the raid and the deportations is another question."
umm.... So you're saying it's okay to hire illegals, just as long as people get their kosher beef? (...shaking head, sighing)
Isn't "keeping kosher" spiritually based?
Here's a link regarding kosher slaughter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shochet
It would seem to me that a business that is breaking the law, by hiring illegals, giving them unsafe working conditions, causing damage to the environment, and sexually harrassing their workers, wouldn't be terribly "kosher" in the most spirtual sense.
I would hope people who would be trying to be kosher wouldn't stand for such treatment to their beef ....or other human beings. I do hope that more kosher beef eaters encourage the meatpacking companies to clean up their act, rather than "use their pull with immigration".
bisbee at 6:09PM on 05/21/08
The least of the concerns in postville is that it becomes a ghost town. The processing plant (which was shut down by previous owners) brought an onslaught of shady characters from eastern europe, central america, and western africa. The crime rate and gang activity was more than this very small town could handle and it essentailly became a "company" town then. The workers were the least of the problems, the horrid working conditions brought the dis enfranchised from all over but most dangerously also brought those that feed on hte disenfranchised. This was stuck in iowa away from the site of any informed consumer ..... On purpose.
The town has rallied to help the families setting up temporary housing, opening churches, etc.
Lemoyne at 6:31PM on 05/21/08