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The following article is from TheJewishAdvocate.com [2].
Agriprocessors Fallout Still Affecting Local Kosher Shops
Low supply and high prices squeeze Boston's butchers
When 400 undocumented workers were arrested last month [May 2008] at Agriprocessors, the country's largest wholesale kosher meat facility, kosher retailers throughout the nation were forced to find alternatives to fill their display cases.
Now, five weeks after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided the Iowa plant, local shops are still feeling the effects of the company's labor shortage.
"It is very severely affecting us," said Walter Gellerman, president of The Butcherie, a kosher grocer in Brookline. "Supply is a problem and [Agriprocessors] is only filling a small percentage of the orders they normally would."
Like many kosher retailers, Gellerman relies heavily on Agriprocessors to provide customers with kosher beef, lamb and poultry.
The Postville, Iowa-based company is overseen by several kosher authorities, including the Orthodox Union, and supplies nearly 60 percent of the nation's kosher meat and 40 percent of its poultry. The May 12 raid decimated the plant's work force and created shortages across the country.
But supply is not the only problem facing Gellerman and Boston [area]'s kosher butchers. Agriprocessors' competitors are raising their prices, leaving retailers with few options but to pass those costs on to the consumer.
"Empire Kosher and a number of others are going berserk on poultry," Gellerman said. "But the cost of fuel is going up on a weekly basis too, so it's hard to differentiate what is driving up costs."
Empire Kosher's spokesman, Elie Rosenfeld, admitted that the Agriprocessors incident has led to a significant increase in demand for Empire's products. But he denied that the company is taking advantage of consumers.
"Our prices have gone up over the last year because of two major factors: fuel for the trucks and for heating and operations, and the price of corn [to feed the chickens]," said Rosenfeld. "Well over 30 percent of costs are feed costs."
At Gordon & Alperin, a kosher butcher in Newton [a suburb of Boston], the decline in Agriprocessors' output is not an issue; the shop orders most of its meat from New York City-based supplier Alle Processing. But the Agriprocessors raid is affecting the entire kosher meat industry, according to the store's owner, Ricardo Bosich.
"The prices are crazy," he said. "People that provide regular Glatt kosher meat see that they have more demand and everyone is taking advantage. And of course the other thing is the price of gas."
Consumers will likely continue to pay high prices until the nation's largest facility can fill its workforce and bolster production. Agriprocessors' marketing consultant, Menachem Lubinsky, said output should be back to normal in two weeks. And he was confident that the raid would not have a significant impact on consumer loyalty.
"Because of Agriprocessors' position in the market, in some places they are the only act in town," he said. "And consumers still seem to behave as they always did: they want quality and a good price."
Still, Agriprocessors and its owners, the Rubashkin family, have been under intense scrutiny for several years. In 2004, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals accused the plant of animal cruelty.
The Rubashkins have also faced allegations of worker abuse, and unsanitary conditions have led to thousands of dollars in federal fines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The company has reportedly tightened its sanitation regulations and was cleared of animal abuse allegations by Patty Judge, Iowa's Secretary of Agriculture.
The Orthodox Union responded to PETA's charges by establishing new guidelines to ensure that no animals suffer through the shehicha (kosher slaughter). And on June 5, the Rubashkins brought in former U.S. Attorney Jim Martin to oversee all state and federal compliance regulations.
"Agriprocessors can meet the needs of those who depend on the company and operate in compliance with all laws, and I intend to see that happen," Martin said in a prepared statement.
In the meantime, the Jewish community continues to debate whether or not to buy meat from the Rubashkins. The Jewish Labor Committee has called for boycotts of the company's products. Gellerman, the Orthodox Union and the Vaad Harabonim of Massachusetts have instead chosen to await a court ruling before passing judgment.
"Our policy at present is to accept Rubashkin Agriprocessor meat supervised by the Orthodox Union," the Vaad wrote in a statement to the Advocate. "We are monitoring the allegations against [Agriprocessors] with great concern, and if it is demonstrated that unlawful or unethical practices are ongoing or were sanctioned by senior managers who remain in place, we expect the OU to respond appropriately."
But as Rabbi Benjamin Samuels of Congregation Shaarei Tefillah in Newton noted, individuals must choose according to their own values.
"I would encourage [the Jewish community] to study this issue and keep informed of its development and make a conscientious decision as to how you will use your consumer power to voice your concerns," Samuels said.
Jewish Advocate editor's note: Rabbi Samuels is an officer of the Vaad Harabonim, but does not speak on its behalf. He offered his insights exclusively in his capacity as leader of Congregation Shaarei Tefillah.
Source: TheJewishAdvocate.com [3]
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