New ethical kosher seal in works

By: Kelley McCoy

Posted: 9/17/08

If all goes according to plan, by next year, kosher food will answer to another authority.

In July, the Conservative Jewish movement pushed for an ethical kashrut certification called Hekhsher Tzedek, which would require participating kosher food processors to meet certain ethical standards regarding employees during the manufacturing process.

"The laws for kosher are kept in many houses and it's taken very seriously," said Eli Kohl, rabbi for the Jewish Learning Initiative of Hillel. "It seems that in some cases, ethical laws are overlooked."

According to the new certification guidelines, food manufacturers must adhere to standards in five areas before they can put the Hekhsher Tzedek seal on their food; wages and benefits, employee health and safety, product development, corporate integrity, and environmental impact.

"By treating the workers with this level of justice and respect, I would find my food to be even more holy than it already was," said senior communications major Hillary Hirsch.

Hekhsher Tzedek is a fairly new concept and is slowly gaining support in the Jewish community.

"I think it's nice but sad," said Shawn Levine, a senior operations management major and president of the Jewish Social Action Committee. "It's important that everyone gets treated fairly, but it should be assumed that everyone should be treated properly and not just because they have to."

The certification came in response to a 2006 investigation of complaints from workers at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, the largest kosher meat company in the United States. In May, Federal agents raided the plant and arrested 400 illegal workers.

The seal has met resistance from Orthodox Jews, however, who worry about higher prices for already costly items, while others wonder how kosher laws and regulations would change if manufacturers were to follow these new guidelines.

Shaye Biller, the supervising rabbi for Pita Plus, thinks that while the ethical treatment of workers is a good idea, the kosher laws are so strict that people will not want to see a change in the way their food is processed.

"The orthodox go by the book, by the Old Testament. We've been doing it this way for 5,000 years and we'll continue to do it for another 5,000," Biller said.

Kohl also believes that few food processors will go for the certification if it's not more profitable than their current process.

"If the consumers want it, then maybe you'll see it. But as a business, it may be less lucrative to get the certification," said Kohl.

"The success of this depends on how willing people are to support the system and buy products with the certification," said Adam Baldachin, the conservative movement's rabbinical intern for Hillel. "If people just want to buy [kosher] without it, then it won't get very far."

The Conservative movement's interest in the kosher food market is relatively new since the market is typically influenced and dominated by Orthodox producers and consumers.

"We're not moving to open up factories or anything," said Baldachin. "We're just trying to improve the level of morality in the workplace.