Attention: Beef Purveyors and Certifying Agencies
The ongoing beef shortages of the past several years have reached a point where the industry can no longer treat this as a temporary inconvenience. We believe the time has come to introduce a non-Glatt line into the market, and we are asking you to take this seriously and act on it.
This is not a new or radical idea — it is a return to how things worked for most of American kosher history. Roughly seventy-five years ago, the great majority of kosher beef sold in this country was non-Glatt, and it was accepted as fully kosher by the overwhelming majority of Ashkenazi consumers. The wholesale shift to Glatt-only distribution followed Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum's push to move the market away from non-shomer-Shabbos distribution channels — a legitimate concern at the time, but one that has since hardened into an assumption that Glatt is the only acceptable standard, which halacha itself does not require.
We also have practical precedent, both recent and current. In 2008, when the Agriprocessors shutdown triggered a nationwide kosher meat shortage, Harvard Row Kosher Meats in West Bloomfield, Michigan, working with the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit (COR) under Rabbi Doniel Neustadt, began sourcing and selling properly supervised non-Glatt beef alongside its Glatt offerings. The COR provided full-time supervision to stand behind it, consumers were clearly informed of the distinction, and the community absorbed a supply shock without being pushed toward non-kosher meat. The Chicago Rabbinical Council (cRc) also had a non-Glatt line available a few years back.
And this isn't only a historical model — United Mehadrin Kosher (UMK) in St. Paul, Minnesota, under Rabbi Asher Zeilingold, certifies beef as non-Glatt today unless it is specifically labeled otherwise. The infrastructure and precedent already exist. There is no reason a version of this can't be made permanent and mainstream rather than treated as a regional or emergency-only measure.
With proper supervision and proper seals in place, there is no legitimate reason distribution logistics should stand in the way. That is a solvable problem, not a barrier — and it should not be used as an excuse for inaction.
What is not solvable, and what should concern every one of you, is what's already happening on the ground: simply raising the price of USA beef is pushing people — including those who are only marginally affected, not just those in real financial distress — toward non-kosher beef. That is a direct consequence of continuing with the status quo, and it is a consequence this community cannot afford to absorb.
We are not raising this as a suggestion to be filed away. It requires action.
If there is anything we can do to help move this forward, please advise.
Thanks,
Yehuda Shain
Truth of the matter is that there is some plain kosher Non-Glatt currently in the Market, but the supply must be enlarged considerably.
Currently there is the Hebrew National brands,
Zelingold's- UMK,
SBD -Rabbi Hatchual,
Rabbanut at postville and at solomon's shechitas.