Dec 1, 2008 8:39 am US/Eastern
Oh Vey! S. Florida Suffers Kosher Meat Shortage
The Largest Kosher Meatpacking Company In Nation Recently Shutdown
It Was Shutdown Following An Immigration Raid
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
South Florida jews who are looking for kosher meat might be saying 'Oh Vey' as kosher butcher shops in South Florida and across the nation struggle with meat and chicken shortages, following the collapse of a major kosher meatpacking company.
Nearly 400 workers at Agriprocessors Inc. were arrested during an immigration raid at the company's Postville, Iowa slaughterhouse this past May. It was formerly the largest kosher meatpacking company in the nation.
Since then, the company has struggled and the plant has closed. Customers say it stopped shipping beef about three weeks ago and chicken in the last week.
There are only a handful of processors nationwide that slaughter animals according to Jewish law and under the supervision of rabbis, so the shutdown has cut the kosher meat supply to the bone.
Other processors have been swamped with orders and either boosting the amount of meat they produce or refusing to take new clients. Some consumers are paying up to 40 percent more for the same meat. Markets and butchers say they can't get certain cuts of beef for their customers, who are largely Orthodox Jews.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments