|
My Sixth Sense
Menachem Lubinsky is the founder and co-producer of Kosherfest, the annual trade event for the kosher food & beverage industry and is the editor-in-chief of KosherToday. The views expressed in this column do not represent the opinions of KosherToday's publishers and are those of the author alone.
To comment on My Sixth Sense editorial, please email: editor@koshertoday.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is there any non-kosher tea in the U.S.? - August 25, 2008
I have to admit that I am not much of a tea drinker, but when a business associate from Europe ordered tea in an upscale kosher restaurant, I too jumped in. My reference of good tea goes back to the days when all we had at home was Lipton’s. I am not even sure if in those days tea had a hechsher, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw my associate fuss with a box of tea that seemed to have more teabags that I have consumed in my lifetime. What shocked me was the sheer number of brands. First there was a neat column of Wissotsky from Israel, with flavors I never thought could be tea. Then there was Tazo, an upscale line of tea owned by Starbucks, and finally, even Bigelow, the tea that Dodger manager Joe Torre says he drinks. That’s when I realized that all of these brands have kosher certification by a major kosher certifier.
While I had already heard that the majority of coffee produced in the U.S. was kosher, tea was quite another matter. Indeed, kashrus experts warned that with the growing number of flavored teas, there was a real concern about the flavorings. What that meant was that I could not just walk into any coffee shop and order a cup of tea without knowing that it was kosher. But a rabbi who travels a great deal assured me that reading the labels of tea will give me unprecedented choices even at the smallest airports. He even comforted me that he had found many that were Passover worthy. With those reassurances, I now know that if ever I do become a frequent tea drinker, it won’t be hard to find tea with a kosher symbol. On a recent trip to the midwest, I indeed treated myself to a cup of kosher tea and moved on to the table with the complimentary (at $3 a cup, complimentary?) condiments. There were little bags of coffee, coffee whiteners, artificial sweeteners, and sugar, all with a kosher symbol. Want to keep kosher on the go? Why not with a cup of tea?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Emerging Salad War - August 18, 2008
Several months ago, this publication reported that Osem executives were looking to expand in the U.S. market, particularly in salads. They probably watched with some concern the acquisition by the Strauss Group of the Queens-based Sabra brand. A story in Globes at the time also indicated that Osem was looking to enter the growing U.S. Mediterranean salad market. The question was how, given that it already owned the Sabra brand in Israel, would it violate an agreement to keep the Israeli brand in Israel? Even if Osem had used its Hebrew name here, it would have set off an intense war, especially if they decided to use the similar brands, albeit with different distinct labeling and packaging.
The acquisition last week by Osem’s subsidiary of Tribe, a Massachusetts-based salad producer, with a strong business in hummus, seemed to be Osem’s response to the Strauss Group. Under the leadership of Yehuda Perl, Sabra had emerged as a high-end salad producer with successes in both the Israeli and general markets. Through its distinctive packaging and aggressive marketing, Sabra had become one of the major success stories in kosher, albeit that Sabra had carved out a niche well beyond kosher. While Tribe is very much a mainstream brand, its products are often on kosher shelves as well. Osem has been extremely successful in becoming a major brand in kosher, while at the same time expanding into other markets as well. It remains to be seen how Osem will handle its new salad presence in the U.S. If their own pronouncements are any guide, a salad war may well be in the offing even in the kosher market.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How the UFCW duped the Jewish community into becoming its agents - August 11, 2008
As the head of the PR firm that represents Agriprocessors, I poured over many documents the other day to make sense of the continued vendetta against the glatt kosher meat and poultry processor. I especially felt the urge to do a bit more probing following my visit (along with some 25 rabbis) to Postville on July 31st where I and the other visitors left with the feeling that something smells here, and it wasn’t the meat. What we saw was a clean, well-run plant with many happy employees. So here’s my theory on why the Agriprocessors just refuses to go away:
I believe that the event that triggered the onslaught against Agriprocessors was the infamous PETA video back in 2005 that allegedly showed the abuse of some animals, albeit that it was never flagged by the USDA, which supervises every aspect of production. While the plant was never shut down by the government, the company called in experts and made significant improvements in the months that followed, all of which are plain to see. This occurred at about the same time that the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) had lost large amounts of its members over a period of several years. It had not succeeded in getting the management of Agriprocessors to agree to come under its wings and the company’s membership also did not seem enthusiastic, as was evidenced by at least one vote. The UFCW also had its share of problems with other large livestock companies, namely Smithfield Foods, and it was even at loggerheads with the mega Wal-Mart chain that also refused to come under its umbrella.
The reaction to the PETA video by the Jewish community was music to the UFCW leadership. Jews, led by the secular media, most notably the Forward, historically a left-leaning Labor Yiddish publication that eventually became an English-language weekly, were outraged. Taking the high moral ground, they were prepared to throw Agriprocessors, which had already been vilified in a book by Steven Blum and in other media for its Chasidic invasion of an Iowa hamlet, to the dogs. Even the Orthodox appeared lame in their defense of Agri. The UFCW probably could not believe their luck that Agri was essentially without a strong base. For the first time in a long time they found a powerful ally, a group that also had the ear of the American media, that would help them win, and win they must. What followed was a series of Forward articles charging abuse of workers and the unofficial creation of a new coalition that included the Forward, the St. Bridget’s Church in Postville, and a group of Conservative rabbis led by Rabbi Morris Allen of Minneapolis. For a while the UFCW did its own dirty work, placing ads in Jewish newspapers and even making electronic phone calls that an OSHA report of gross violations amounting to $182,000 showed that the kosher food produced by Agri was not safe (the violations and fines were subsequently reduced and the fines totaled $42,000). Then came the departure of Khal Adath Jeshurun as one of the main kosher certifying agencies at Agri, which (while a business decision, as KAJ itself said) again became the basis for an ad campaign and the calls to Jewish households in many Orthodox neighborhoods. They were told that KAJ left because they did not trust the kashrut.
The UFCW ultimately had followed its own manual (outlined in a lawsuit by Smithfield against the UFCW) in getting the grassroots to fight the battle on their behalf. The Forward and by now a whole slew of other press were pouring it on, so much so that Agriprocessors was ultimately referred to as a “Medieval plant” and a “kosher jungle” in major media outlets like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The May 12th raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was a bonanza that the Unions could only gloat on. The affidavit that accompanied the raid included some ridiculous accusations of drug manufacturing and bomb-making and it quoted the Forward, almost unprecedented for a government agency to support such a document. The scope and brutal nature of the raid were attacked by none other than the New York Times, amongst others, that questioned the immigration policies of the Bush Administration. What followed was almost choreographed. St. Bridget’s would release names of minors to the local Iowa media with graphic details of abuse, the Forward and often the JTA (which did ultimately make an attempt to present a fair and balanced picture) would keep up its attacks, Rabbi Allen would push his Heksher Tzedek to stress that Agriprocessors could not be trusted in its treatment of animals and workers, all to the delight of UFCW officials who were by now convinced that Agriprocessors was on the cusp of either caving in to a Union that would save them or shut down altogether, delivering a powerful message that UFCW will not be intimidated, even if you are Smithfield or Wal-Mart. The victory seemed at hand. All that was still needed was an indictment by the Feds in the aftermath of the May 12th raid.
Strangely, I watched some of this unfold after the positive media coverage of the visit of the 25 rabbis on July 31st which followed a similar visit by Sue Fishkoff of the JTA, with essentially the same positive findings. We saw a new willingness to tighten up all compliance and credible officials who were put in charge. Only days after the visit, the Iowa Department of Labor (headed by a Commissioner who is a former Union official) recommended to the Iowa Attorney General that he indict Agriprocessors for employing 57 minors. Ironically, the Department did its own audit in April ‘08 and found none. It refused to give Agri attorneys the names of minors, if any, so that they can follow their policy of firing underage workers. Agri, in fact, fired four underaged workers in its sausage department when it became aware of their ages. When Agri explained this to the media, a reporter found three new underage workers, but the information most likely again came again from the Church, where many of the immigrants and their families hung out for assistance and where they were allegedly feeding the St. Bridget officials with inflammatory information implicating one another, particularly Agriprocessors. When it wasn’t underaged workers, it was that the company was employing the homeless and most recently Somalis. The UFCW smile must have grown from day to day, particularly after a march on July 27th captured national attention. Their surrogates were doing a great job.
In the meantime, shortages of kosher meat and poultry persisted and prices went sky-high, all because the moralists and ethicists in the Jewish community never suspected that they were being duped by a ferocious union into becoming their agents. History will yet judge this strange episode in American-Jewish history as one of the Union’s finest moments and perhaps the Jewish community's lowest. I certainly have gained a great deal of respect for the Union, while questioning so many in the Jewish community. What a shame! (All that remains is for an investigative reporter with courage to put the pieces together.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I Too Was Looking for the Smoking Gun - August 4, 2008
I couldn’t help but observe the faces of the 20 or so rabbis from around the country that were part of a mission to the Agriprocessors plant in Postville last week. They had heard and read so much about the plant that they were expecting the worse. I have to admit that I too was on the lookout for any sign that perhaps justified some of the criticism against me that I had chosen to represent Agriprocessors. Like many of the rabbis who were there, I expected to find unsafe conditions, tormented and abused workers, and a plant that was “medieval” as one paper put it or a “Jungle” as the New York Times classified the plant in an editorial last week. But almost to a man, the reaction of the group was one of shock that a plant could be as maligned as it has been in the media. Each of us took the time to talk to employees from diverse backgrounds and all seemed happy with the working conditions, safety and pay scale. We saw an ultra modern plant, fully computerized and cleaner than most plants that I have visited (probably 100 or so in my lifetime). USDA officials who are present at every facet of production seemed to know nothing about underage workers, people with deformed hands working long hours, people not being allowed to go to the bathroom and so forth. That day I read Rabbi Morris Allen’s guidelines for Hekhsher Tzedek, a Conservative Jewish certification that the Orthodox and the certification agencies reject, and thought that what I and the group saw far exceeded his guidelines in every respect. “A blood libel,” yelled out one of the rabbis, when he saw the conditions at Agriprocessors.
Admittedly none of us were at the plant prior to May 12th, but underage workers? I discovered that the Iowa Department of Labor had sent in experts to find the under aged workers in February, some 3 months before the raid, and removed 2 who later turned out to be above 18. Yes, it was apparent that many new systems were put into place since May 12th. Illegal immigrants were ferreted out through an e-Verify system, posters advised workers of an anonymous hotline, and even shorter shifts, but most of what we saw certainly preceded the day of the raid. The beautiful clean plant was clearly not built in 8 weeks. The beautiful housing that Agriprocessors built for its employees as opposed to the shanty trailers rented to them by a city councilman could not have gone up in about 10 weeks, nor could the $12 million sewage treatment plant to protect the environment. I heard church officials and the mayor describe how wonderful the Rubashkin family was. I listened to officials now at the plant speak about the state of compliance, safety and worker’s relations. We were all impressed with the high kashrus standards. But most of all we wondered how these stories of abuse, safety, and working conditions ever saw the light of day. Said one official: “They play telephone in this town. A rumor is passed along and pretty soon it makes the newspapers and is accepted fact, so much so that the coveted New York Times, without ever stepping into the plant calls it a Kosher Jungle. Hard to believe that this could happen in America in 2008!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Testing the Constitution over and over gain - July 28, 2008
It has been an issue that has been tested in the courts over and over again. Almost every level of the judicial system has at some point considered the rights of prisoners to kosher foods. The result has always been the same. The right to kosher food based on one’s religious beliefs is unshakable. The courts have ultimately decided that even in cases where budgets are not sufficient to pay for the food, the states must somehow come up with the money.
The most recent case was when the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that a prison inmate serving a life sentence for murder can proceed with a lawsuit alleging prison officials violated his religious rights by changing the way kosher food is prepared for Jewish inmates. The high court's unanimous opinion reinstates Charles Sisney's lawsuit that seeks to require prison officials to resume the use of pre-packaged kosher meals. In two related cases where Sisney sought damages, the Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of nearly all of Sisney's claims.
Sisney pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 1997 for the shooting death of his former girlfriend, Kathy Marie Cepek, in Sioux Falls. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The question that repeatedly troubles me is why this issue is tested ad nauseum, whereas other cases of prisoners’ rights are decided without it being challenged repeatedly. Prison officials are clear about the enormous stress that the special treatment puts on their system. They speak of storing the special meals, refrigeration and heating issues and so forth. They also say that this causes unease amongst the fellow prisoners who often complain that they do not have the right to eat the ethnic meals that they enjoy. Bottom line is that this issue is a fundamental constitutionally guaranteed right that the courts have no choice but to uphold. In truth, it isn’t as much about the prisoners as it is about our system of government, guaranteed by our Constitution.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The focus turns to the workers and their families, but there is always the but - July 21, 2008
I have to admit that when I read about the plight of the families of the immigrants who were arrested in the May 12th raid in Postville, I wondered what can be done to help them? Amongst the 300 or so waiting for the proceedings that may result in their deportation to Guatemala and Mexico, are breadwinners and women. I also wondered about the plight of the families of 58 arrested immigrants in Reno, Nevada, all workers in 11 stores of McDonalds’, where there was no boycott and no lynch mob. I thought about the families of the 4000 undocumented workers arrested in 2007. In 2005, Wal-Mart paid $11 million to end a probe into the use of illegal immigrants. So there is something noble in a planned march next Sunday (July 27th) in Postville by St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, Jewish Community Action of St. Paul, Minn., and the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs of Chicago (which is offering a kosher lunch to participants). The march in fact begins at the church and will no doubt pass the Agriprocessors plant. Also participating will be the Agudas Achim Synagogue in Iowa City, ironically affiliated with both the Union for Reform Judaism and The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (they alternate prayer services). The flyer on the “peaceful march” seems to focus only on the plight of the immigrant families, which is admirable.
In an e-mail urging its membership to attend, Agudas Achim points out that the groups planning the immigration reform rally in Postville “promised testimony from people directly affected by the raid, as well as talk about immigration reform and workers' rights.” So far so good and even commendable, but then the some of the true colors of the march organizers surfaced. The e-mail continued: “This rally is to protest the inhumane treatment of the workers at Agriproccesors and to support the workers there. Rabbi Henry Karp of Davenport has to his credit been very vocal about this and has been in contact with one of the organizers, Rabbi Morris Allen in Minneapolis.” There you have it. It matters little that there is no inhumane treatment at Agriprocessors, overseen by former U.S. Attorney Jim Martin, who is responsible for compliance and who is committed to go beyond compliance and making the plant a model of treatment of workers. He has already hired a reputable staffing firm, retained a former OSHA official and even instituted a 24-hour hotline for worker’s complaints. They don’t seem to want to allow the improvements to take shape, the internal and external investigations to go forward and the supply of kosher meat to be resumed. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly clear that the fringe leftist Jewish groups want nothing less than the closure of the only dedicated glatt kosher meat plant in America. For the few weeks that there were shortages in meats, many kosher consumers suffered. Should the plant be brought to its knees as the Rabbi Allens seem to want, it will set back kosher in America 20 years or more. I and most other Jews who covet kosher care deeply about the plight of the workers, but what we can’t fathom is the march to the gallows that some seem to be insisting on. How shameful!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feature News Story - July 14, 2008
New York Times, constitutional attorney decry Postville raid
New York…Two months after nearly 1,000 federal, state and local agents raided Agriprocessors (May 12th) in Postville, comes a chorus of voices questioning the legality and morality of the raid itself. The New York Times in an editorial yesterday (July 13th) “The Shame of Postville, Iowa” took the unusual step of quoting an essay by Erik Camayd-Freixas describing the cruel manner in which the undocumented workers were treated during the raid. His essay includes the writer’s description of “the saddest procession I have ever witnessed, which the public would never see (because the cameras were hidden).” According to the Times, “No one is denying that the workers were on the wrong side of the law. But there is a profound difference between stealing people’s identities to rob them of money and property, and using false papers to merely get a job.”
In fact, even the affidavit that was used as justification for the raid pointed out that Agriprocessors meticulously checked documents that the immigrants also used to register their children in schools and obtain credit cards from the banks. Nathan Lewin, a Washington DC constitutional expert called the Agriprocessors raid "selective enforcement." He argued that no other single-site meatpacker has been raided and that no other relatively small employer (i.e., one who is unable to put in the expensive checking systems that Tyson and Swift and other huge employers have put in since criminal enforcement began) that has any screening system whatsoever has, to my knowledge, been raided, and that no other raided employer has had an incendiary series of uncorroborated and demonstrably false allegations made by one unhappy employee or by biased news reports included in an affidavit deliberately (and unusually) released to the public by ICE. Lewin opined that Agriprocessors was singled out after the Feds reasoned that there would be no major support for them.
According to the Times piece, “Court interpreters are normally impartial participants and keep their opinions to themselves.” But Dr. Camayd-Freixas, a professor of Spanish at Florida International University, said he was so offended by the cruelty of the prosecutions that he felt compelled to break his silence. “A line was crossed at Postville,” he wrote.
Ironically, no major Jewish source, including those that have been on a relentless attack against the kosher meat giant, has echoed the concern of The Times over the treatment of the workers by the government. This obvious double standard behavior by an isolated number of leftist Jewish organizations and the media is what is causing such indignation amongst the core supporters and customers of Agriprocessors. With the withdrawal of the boycott by Uri L’Tzedek, a modern Orthodox Jewish group, only the UFCW, some extreme left elements and a smattering of Conservative rabbis promoting a new Hekhsher Tzedek remain as antagonists of Agriprocessors. Its chief architect, Rabbi Morris Allen of Twin Cities, Minneapolis, has never commented on the issues raised in the Times editorial. In fact, the antagonists have constantly focused on side issues, such as the hiring by a recruitment firm of several homeless people and a major gaffe by a PR agency hired by Agriprocessors which had nothing to do with the company itself. Now even the New York Times, which can hardly be described as a conservative mouthpiece, has come forward to tell the truth. Now if only the Forward would come forward.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Duly Noted - July 7, 2008
We received many e-mails and phone calls with opinions on Agriprocessors. There were those that pretty much echoed the sentiments of the UFCW, Rabbi Maurice Allen and the Forward that the consumers should avoid meats from Agriprocessors because of the alleged charges against them. This was one e-mail: “We are what we eat. Unfair business practices or inappropriate business practices that violate halacha, dina malchusa dina, or even simple Jewish or secular business ethics does, at least on a spiritual level, have an affect.” On the flip side, another reader wrote: “I am sure that Agriprocessors will get its act together and improve dramatically on compliance issues. They are needed and should not be hung. No one stopped flying the airlines when they were found to be in non-compliance. Unfortunately in the Agriprocessors case, there is a much broader agenda, including embarrassing Orthodox Jews.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hekhsher Tzedek: in the aftermath of the 'gotcha' environment - June 30, 2008
To begin with, here is my weekly disclaimer that I do on occasion represent Agriprocessors, so don't shoot the messenger. The new Hekhsher Tzedek promoted by several conservative rabbis and other liberal groups was a non-starter three years ago after a PETA video alleged animal abuse at the Postville plant of Agriprocessors. This happened even though the USDA neither found fault with the company nor closed down the plant, as is customary for the federal inspectors who monitor the treatment of animals and safety of the food. It surfaced again in conjunction with a campaign by the UFCW to unionize workers at Agriprocessors that included calling thousands of Orthodox Jewish homes with a warning that Agri products were unsafe. It is, of course, very much in the news these days in the aftermath of the federal immigration raid at Agriprocessors on May 12th . Orthodox groups understandably rejected a new definition of kosher that has no basis in halacha. The humane treatment of animals and the proper treatment of laborers are addressed in the Torah separately. Orthodox groups pointed out that kashrus is kashrus, to be monitored by rabbis steeped in Jewish law, and that they rely on government oversight on issues that relate to animal welfare and treatment of laborers.
Even more importantly, the lion's share of the market has rejected this new hekhsher including innocent Conservative and Reform Jews who understand the difference between the value of kosher and the politics of kosher. That is why Hekhsher Tzedek failed after PETA, why it was a non-starter with the Union campaign and why it will ultimately be strike three now as well, despite the hype. The reason: shoppers want quality products that are genuinely kosher at a fair price. That won't change irrespective of what conservative rabbis dream up in their effort to make the case that the people who have built kashrus are not as great after all. They are telling the world, 'We may have failed in the past, but this time we gotcha.' And that kind of approach is far from kosher with most kosher consumers, who unfortunately will be paying a price for the politics of kosher. When the rebel rabbis ask for donations on their website, ask yourself whether you want to contribute to the timeless value of kosher as passed down on Sinai or the politics of kosher for rabbis who may themselves not be very kosher.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Calendar - June 23, 2008
On any given week, I have occasion to speak to many people in the kosher food industry. Over the last few weeks, the topics usually included steep commodity price increases, the soaring fuel costs, increased shipping costs, and the developments in Postville. So it was a bit of a surprise when a leading distributor chose to talk about the Jewish calendar. This year’s Jewish calendar was a bit of good news for him, as his plans for the summer actually included a 10-day vacation. Rosh Hashanah this year falls on the eve of September 29th, almost a full month after Labor Day. “You don’t understand what that means for me. I can actually ship in early September rather than in late July, which is what happens when Rosh Hashanah falls at the beginning of the month. It reminded me of a joke I heard from comedian Jackie Mason: “The Jewish holidays are either late or early. They’re never on time.”
Those extra few weeks really will make a big difference in many markets. The return to school will be a separate event, which means that when people return from vacation, they will concentrate on restocking their pantries and probably will not begin to make pre-High Holy Days purchasing until the middle of the month. “It brings some order to a very hectic month,” the distributor told me. He even factored in the weather, making the assumption that it will be cooler by the end of September. So what’s the difference, I ask. “Ice cream versus soup,” he says. The calendar, say kosher food sources, makes a huge difference, particularly on the two busiest holidays of the year, Passover and the Fall. In 2009, Passover will begin 11 days before it did in 2008. 11 days, said the distributor, can make a huge difference in the life of a distributor. So what’s the best gift you can give someone who deals with kosher foods? Obviously a Jewish calendar.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ill-advised and ill-conceived boycott against Agriprocessors - June 16, 2008
Since this column is about Agriprocessors, I begin with the disclaimer that my firm LUBICOM Marketing Consulting does on occasion represent Agriprocessors. In May 1902, 20,000 women influenced by the emerging labor and women's suffrage movements, declared a boycott against the myriad of small kosher butcher shops that dotted the Lower East Side, who dared to increase prices by some 15% - 18%. The women were encouraged by leftist Jewish worker's movements and the left-leaning Forward. Most of the stores were owned by refugees, some of which mis-spelled 'Bosor Kosher' (kosher meat) as 'Bosor Bosor.' 106 years later, a leftist modern Orthodox group known as Uri L'Tzedek is using that boycott as its precedent for a boycott against products produced by Agriprocessors. The group consists of students of the Yeshiva Chovevei Torah (YCT), left of the mainstream Modern Orthodox establishments. Its rabbis have adopted programs, particularly on ecumenical dialogues, that were diametrically opposed to the teachings of the late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik, considered the leading halachic authority of modern Orthodoxy in the 20th century, and whose extensive works still guide modern Orthodox Jewish and institutions like Yeshiva University and the Rabbinical Council of America. When I met with the group recently, they raised all of the issues in the allegations against Agriprocessors that were contained in the federal affidavit that led to the raid in Postville, Iowa more than a month ago. It did not seem to matter to them that a call for a boycott based on allegations was unprecedented, the 1902 boycott notwithstanding. It appeared to be irrelevant that even the Conservative and Reform called for a 're-evaluation' of purchasing products manufactured by Agri but refrained from calling for a boycott. The Uri L'Tzedek activists were not phased by the fact that the boycott might be damaging to a company that supplies a significant portion of the kosher meat in the country and which has been responsible for keeping prices down. There was little concern that hundreds of Jewish families in Postville would be hurt, or that the plant is closely monitored by a large team of USDA inspectors and rabbis. Even supermarket chains regularly audit the plant and, in fact, asked for their own investigation, again unprecedented.
In their letter to Mr. Aaron Rubashkin, the founder and owner of Agriprocessors, the Uri L'Tzedekraised issues such as humane slaughter,despite the fact that thelast five independent audits gave the plant high marks for its humane slaughter practices. They also referenced the undocumented workers, even when the plant had hired a former U.S. attorney, Jim Martin, to deal with compliance issues during a time when undocumented workers are a huge problem for America. The leftist leaning Orthodox activists challenged Agri about the low pay without a shred of evidence that this was true and also raised concern about some 39 violations that are routine for slaughterhouses and which have been addressed long ago and are under the noses of a large team of USDA on-site inspectors.The Uri L'Tzedek also citedunsubstantiated rumors about child labor and stories of abuse. In other words, they bought the propaganda of the UFCW and the PETA activists and called for a boycott against a company that is working around the clock to restore the supply of kosher meats all over America. The call for the boycott is against the Torah that they claim to represent andis shameful, shortsighted and despicable. Thankfully, the evidence is clear that most consumers are rejecting the lynch mob mentality that has been unleashed by some against Agriprocessors, not even waiting for the results of a federal investigation. In fact, many customers are insisting on buying Agriprocessors. Way to go for fair-minded and decent people!
