Beating A Shortage

West Bloomfield kosher butcher finds
ready supply of non-glatt meat.

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A Southfield supermarket posted a sign about the kosher meat situation.

Alan Hitsky
Associate Editor

H

arvard Row Kosher Meats in
West Bloomfield has come
up with a plan to keep its
customers supplied with kosher meat.
The store, like all kosher butchers, res-
taurants and caterers in the U.S., has
been facing a shortage since mid-May,
when federal agents arrested nearly
half the work force at Agriprocessors
in Postville, Iowa, which supplies up
to 60 percent of the kosher meat con-
sumed in the United States.
In an agreement with the Council
of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit
(COR), Harvard Row has been pur-
chasing non-glatt meat from several
suppliers. At the same time, the store
is still selling pre-wrapped glatt meat
for those who want the higher stan-
dard of glatt kosher.
Rabbi Doniel Neustadt, the new
chairman of the Southfield-based
COR, explained that glatt is a hala-
chic (Jewish law) term for a higher
standard of kosher meat supervision.
"Both are kosher and supervised:'
Rabbi Neustadt said, "but there is a
very large segment [of kosher con-
sumers] that don't care about glatt."
Harvard Row's Susan Shakhet,
daughter of owner Johnny Katz, said
the store is able to get non-glatt meat
from several COR-approved sources
and that the meat is about $1 per
pound cheaper than glatt. For kosher
lamb, she said the price is up to $3 per
pound cheaper.
But Harvard Row is incurring some
higher costs because it is now paying

for full-time supervision from the
COR. In the past, the store's masgiach
(kosher supervisor) would come in
for about an hour per day. In addition
to full coverage during store hours,
somebody from the COR spot-checks
the store "almost on a daily basis!'
Shakhet said Harvard Row is pay-
ing $250 per week more for full-time
supervision.
Rabbi Neustadt said that the COR
believes allowing Harvard Row to
offer non-glatt meat is a service "for
those that want kosher, but not the
high price' Shaykhet, a part-time
employee at Harvard Row who does
the store's bookkeeping, said that 90
percent of the store's customers are
non-Orthodox.
Glatt kosher meat has become the
standard for the United States in recent
decades. Last year, according to the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Midwestern
cities which tried to obtain non-glatt
meat from Agriprocessors were denied
shipments.
Over the last 10 years, the plant has
been charged with health and safety
violations by the state and federal
governments and paid hundreds of
thousands of dollars in fines. It was
the subject of an undercover investiga-
tion into its kosher practices by People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,
and in May saw nearly 400 of its 800
employees arrested and charged with
being illegal immigrants. Most have
pled guilty and will be expelled from
the U.S.
The plant has had spotty produc-
tion since the raid, leading to nation-
wide shortages. E

"From the day I moved to Regent Street

of West Bloomfield, it has felt like home.

The staff is kind and they are experts at

what they do." - Resident Bea Paul

248.683.1010

Visitors welcome.
Stop by for a tour today!

REGENT STREET

ce-YOF WEST BLOOMFIELDOP

A s SISTED LIVING

4460 Orchard Lake Rd. West Bloomfield, MI 48323

Located next to Comerica Bank

Created to care for our family, devoted to serving yours.

1405730

iN

July 10

2008

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