[social_buttons]Are you looking for a Kosher turkey this year?

Many interested in organic food are, since Kosher Turkeys are required by Jewish law to be slaughtered in a particular fashion designed to be humane. Sarah Palin’sTurkey video has just increased awareness of the issue this year!

They are also often organic by default, that is raised without pesticides, growth hormones, etc…. and, of course, are considered exceptionally tasty.

I heard this story on NPR’s Marketplace this morning..”There’s a shortage of kosher turkey and beef thanks to the closing of supplier Agriprocessors, which had provided much of the country’s kosher meat…” and immediately wondered how our Thanksgiving would turn out since, the friends with whom we hope to share the holiday meal swear by these birds.

Agriprocessors halted production earlier this week and then closed its doors. The company that supplies an estimated 40% of the country’s kosher turkeys has found it self in well, if not the oven, in hot water!

Agriprocessors was the site of a May immigration raid in which 389 workers were arrested. Plant managers later were charged with violating child labor laws, wage and hour regulations and safety rules.

.. the target of a massive federal immigration (investigation) in May… in recent weeks its troubles have multiplied, leading to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Nov. 4.

Several companies have filed lawsuits against Agriprocessors (including) First Bank. The former Postville plant manager, Sholom Rubashkin, was arrested twice and is now being held in federal custody on multiple charges.

Rubashkin, the son of the company owner Aaron Rubashkin, stands accused of helping illegal employees procure fake work documents and orchestrating an accounting scheme that permitted the company to borrow more money than it had collateral to cover. If convicted, Rubashkin faces more than 50 years in jail.

While manufacturers of both kosher and organic turkeys have rushed in to fill the production gap, but it’s likely that in many households, it will be a vegetarian (or at least not kosher) Thanksgiving this year and not by choice!

BTW- It seems Agriprocessors wasn’t such a sterling name in humane slaughter anyway!

Photo Credit: Bucklava at Flickr Under Creative Commons License