kosher meat

mominatrix

has anybody considered Kosher meat as an alternative to factory farmed and slaughtered meats?

thoughts on methods, quality and price...

LolitaC

We had to get a kosher brisket once and it was $8 a pound.

madladybride

well, if you get it from a small kosher mart/store or kosher butcher, it *should* be a better alternative. Probably not as good as grass-fed beef, but the animals, theoretically, need to be treated humanely and slaughtered in the quickest, cleanest and least-painful way possible.

 

ETA: The meat is usually quite good (or so I've heard), rather fresh, but more expensive than conventional meat. Not sure of cost the difference between organic meat and kosher.

Alisha_A

I'm not convinced that most kosher meat is kept and slaughtered up to the intent of the kosher laws. I know that in the past there have been a lot of stories about kosher slaughters that were horrific.

madladybride

Alisha_A:

I'm not convinced that most kosher meat is kept and slaughtered up to the intent of the kosher laws. I know that in the past there have been a lot of stories about kosher slaughters that were horrific.

I agree, but I would think that it would be better to get it from an actual kosher butcher...

SuperGreen

I don't know the kosher laws, but I seriously doubt they include ensuring animals are raised on pasture and are slaughtered humanely.  Organic meat doesn't gurantee those things either, organic is just no hormones or antibiotics and organic feed.  If you want to eat humanely raised meat I think the only way to do that is to know where it's coming from, i.e. buy from the farmer's market, CSA, directly from the farmer (like half a cow), or a butcher who reeeally knows how his meat is raised (I seriously doubt any do, especially in a grocery store).

Also, I don't think there are separate feedlots and slaughterhouses for kosher beef, the animals get mixed together under the "watchful eye" of a rabbi.

mominatrix

SuperGreen:

I don't know the kosher laws, but I seriously doubt they include ensuring animals are raised on pasture and are slaughtered humanely.  Organic meat doesn't gurantee those things either, organic is just no hormones or antibiotics and organic feed.  If you want to eat humanely raised meat I think the only way to do that is to know where it's coming from, i.e. buy from the farmer's market, CSA, directly from the farmer (like half a cow), or a butcher who reeeally knows how his meat is raised (I seriously doubt any do, especially in a grocery store).

Also, I don't think there are separate feedlots and slaughterhouses for kosher beef, the animals get mixed together under the "watchful eye" of a rabbi.

there are requirements for humane slaughter:

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ritual/Kashrut_Dietary_Laws/Kosher_Food/Meat/Slaughtering.shtml

there are, of course, real questions about implementation... but there are rules.

Joenali

Check out Kashrus magazine. There is tons of info related to all things Kosher and things not so Kosher especially items that are marketed to be.

http://www.kashrusmagazine.com/

CharlottesWeb

SuperGreen:

I don't know the kosher laws, but I seriously doubt they include ensuring animals are raised on pasture and are slaughtered humanely.  Organic meat doesn't gurantee those things either, organic is just no hormones or antibiotics and organic feed.  If you want to eat humanely raised meat I think the only way to do that is to know where it's coming from, i.e. buy from the farmer's market, CSA, directly from the farmer (like half a cow), or a butcher who reeeally knows how his meat is raised (I seriously doubt any do, especially in a grocery store).

Also, I don't think there are separate feedlots and slaughterhouses for kosher beef, the animals get mixed together under the "watchful eye" of a rabbi.

This.

The requirements for Kosher slaughter are many times just words. There are scenes in "Earthlings" of Kosher slaughters and they are horrific.

marriedtoeric

We keep kosher to a degree at home, and buy grass-fed local beef and free-range, local chicken instead of kosher beef and chicken.  When we lived near a kosher butcher, we would shop there, but now that we don't, we eat local meat for two reasons.  1--it's local, and for us to get kosher meat, we'd have to order it from Atlanta and have it shipped here.  Makes more eco-sense to buy local.  2--philosophically, we believe that the rules of kashrut (the kosher rules) are in place to show respect for the animal (swift killing) and for cleanliness.  Resultingly, we are comfortable buying meat from local farmers because we know them, and have spoken with them about how their animals are treated, both during life and during death.  

We don't eat factory farmed or slaughtered meats.