Ethically kosher

The Conservative Jewish movement is introducing a new kind of kashruth certification, the hekhsher tzedek, which avers that the food has been produced not only according to kosher laws (largely superintended by Orthodox Jews) but also by ethical standards regarding worker and animal treatment and environmentalism. It's been somewhat controversial among the Orthodox.

Here's a good article about it from the Boston Globe.

I can really, honestly think of only one conceivable response to this: oy!


Not to be confused, under the circumstances, with "feh" (which also occurred to me).

My daughter came home from school one day last year with information on Aaron's from her sociology class and asked me to stop buying their chicken. We don't keep kosher, but I think kosher chicken tastes better. It was enough for me to see the fact sheet her teacher distributed to keep me from buying their products. I've been buying the Miller's Amish chicken as a substitute, but I have no idea how Miller's compares to Aaron's as far as ethical farming goes.

I've also been buying local chicken at the farmer's markets. Problem is, we eat a LOT of chicken and it's quite costly, plus my family only likes certain parts and one child will only eat boneless breasts. Perhaps this boycott by the Jewish community will push Aaron's to be more ethically responsible in the production of their chickens.

Suzy

sdritz wrote:Perhaps this boycott by the Jewish community will push Aaron's to be more ethically responsible in the production of their chickens.

Don't get your hopes up. Though I'd love to see Agriprocessors put out of business, frankly, they've been known about for years and despite all the bad press--and there's been a lot, even before this--they thrive. It's worse than sad.