Postville, IA – PETA Says Will Monitor Rubashkin Plant As Meat Is Back on Local Store Shelves

Postville, IA – After a yearlong absence following an immigration-service raid that nearly shut it down, meat from the embattled Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, is once again for sale in the Kansas City area.

Local rabbis welcome the move as a boon to consumers and say they have no qualms about the ethical practices at the Postville plant, or about its kashrut.

On July 20, a federal bankruptcy court judge approved the sale of Agriprocessors, formerly the largest kosher-meat producer in the United States, to SHF Industries, formed by Canada-based entrepreneur Hershey Friedman and his son-in-law, Daniel Hirsch.

But with new ownership in place, local rabbis say they welcome the return of the Rubashkin brands to the city’s largest kosher meat purveyor.

Rabbi Herbert Mandl of Kehilath Israel Synagogue, chairman of the KC Vaad HaKashrut, which handles the supervision and certification of kashrut locally, said he suggested bringing back the Postville product line. SHF will continue to use the same brand names as Agriprocessors: Rubashkin’s, Aaron’s Best and Shor Habor. Aaron Rubashkin was the founder of the business.

“It’s under total new ownership,” Rabbi Mandl said. “… It’s under the (kashrut supervision of the) OU (Orthodox Union), and they have gone in there and scrupulously checked what is going on. The OU itself went through and tightened up standards as far as slaughter is concerned. It’s a total change of operation.”

Rabbi Mandl also noted that Agriprocessors remains in the crosshairs of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, whose supporters have targeted it for any number of critical actions, including surreptitiously videotaping slaughter procedures they allege to have been cruel and then publicizing the results.

PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt said this week her group would seek to work with the new owners and would continue to try to monitor conditions inside the plant.

“We’re sending SHF a letter this week extending an invitation to meet to talk about past issues regarding inhumane slaughtering and handling at the plant and how to ensure that more humane practices and protocols are established and enforced,” she said. “We’re pushing the new owners to make it a priority to adhere to kosher laws and USDA laws regarding slaughter. We’re all the way vigilant about monitoring and follow-up, especially with the history of this facility.”

Rajt said PETA also supports Temple Grandin’s recommendations to have video monitoring cameras installed, as well as third-party, unannounced audits of the plant. Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, is the nation’s leading consultant on humane methods of animal slaughter and meat processing.

Bringing it back

“They (Agriprocessors) may eventually go back to beef, but right now they’re only slaughtering poultry, which is what we’re hurting for here, because we weren’t getting it at all for awhile,” Rabbi Mandl said. “This has dropped the price of kosher poultry in Kansas City by half, and that’s why I asked them to bring it in.”

He said Sheila Fasbinder, the local broker for Rubashkin products, called him a couple of months ago and asked him what he thought about bringing the products back.

“I said, ‘Go for it. It’s a new operation, new owner, they’re being watched. It will drop prices. Let’s go for it,’ ” Rabbi Mandl said.

Mendel Segal, buyer and mashgiach (kashrut overseer) at Hen House, said that during the past year, Hen House has been selling David Elliot and Empire brand chicken.
“Now (Agriprocessors) is building up its products and product line,” he said.

Segal said he expects to have a steady supply. Hen House is selling Aaron’s Best poultry cold cuts and chicken at this time. It will continue to sell a few David Elliot and Empire chicken products, but not as many as before.

“A lot of it was strictly a business decision,” Segal said. “Their (Rubashkin) prices are a lot better, which makes our prices better for our customers.

“But also dealing with them, talking to our representative, we’re all pretty confident they’ve turned over a new leaf. We’ve talked to the rabbis in town, and I know they’re supportive of it. …
“A far as indictments go, they’re not owned any more by the same family. They have a different management system, different ownership. So to me it’s like a new company, really. If anybody is clean, they’re probably the cleanest out there,” he said.

Lessons learned
Rabbi Daniel Rockoff of Congregation Beth Israel Abraham & Voliner is Rav haMachshir (certifying authority) for the KC Vaad. He said he believes there will be greater oversight at the plant now.

“Rubashkin’s has been sold, so it’s under new ownership and a new direction, and everything in the past is behind it. There’s no reason to continue to penalize them or not support them,” he said.

Rabbi Rockoff said the Rubashkins may have made mistakes and behaved improperly, but they have been or will be punished accordingly. He sees no reason not to purchase Postville products now.

“I don’t think there’s any reason at this point to further distance ourselves from using their products,” he said. “It’s still a kosher resource, and they’ve served their time, and hopefully they’ve learned a lesson.

“And hopefully we as a Jewish community have learned our lesson, especially in light of what’s going on in the news these days in terms of Jewish ethical practices as they’ve come up in New Jersey; it’s another reminder.”

He was referring to the recent arrests of 16 Orthodox Jews on charges of money laundering and a 17th for illegally buying and selling kidneys.