Every Kosher Product in Europe—Ever

This post first appeared on The Jew and the Carrot blog at the Forward.

Imagine you’re a kosher traveler sightseeing in Croatia and you’d like to make sandwiches for a picnic lunch. How would you know which bread is kosher, or which jam to look for on the store shelf? You probably wouldn’t have a clue.

Until now, kosher shopping posed a real challenge to those unfamiliar with European hekshers and local kosher food distribution networks. But all that is changing thanks to a massive online database of every kosher European food product — ever.

It’s not always easy to find products with various hekshers all listed together in one place. Fortunately for Jews Down Under, the Kashrut Authority of Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific Region has a website (promising “Keeping kosher made easy”) with just such a list. But in the United States, consumers have to search different authorities’ databases. For instance, the Orthodox Union’s database only contains OU authorized products.

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© 2014 Renee Ghert-Zand. All rights reserved.

Does Hebrew National ‘Answer To A Higher Authority’?

This piece was first published on The Jew and the Carrot blog at the Forward.

Kosher BBQ enthusiasts and other fans of the essential kosher hot dog, Hebrew National — which advertises that that they “answer to a higher authority” — have been following a recent lawsuit alleging that the company’s franks and other products are not kosher.

The suit was filed against ConAgra, the parent company of Hebrew National, by 11 plaintiffs who live around the country on May 18 in Minnesota’s state court. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages and restitution for ConAgra’s “deceptively and misleading mislabeling Hebrew National products as strictly 100% kosher, when they are not,” according to court documents. These products include Hebrew National’s line of hot dog/beef franks, salami, sausage and deli meats. At issue is not whether or not the meat used is beef, but rather whether it is slaughtered and handled according to kosher standards.

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© 2012 Renee Ghert-Zand. All rights reserved.

The Challenge Of Food Insecurity

This piece was first published as “Keeping Kosher During the Food Stamp Challenge” on The Jew and the Carrot blog at the Forward.

Rabbi Ari Weiss shopping for the Food Stamp Challenge (photo by Sara Kranzler)

It was after Rabbi Ari Weiss bumped into and spoke with Rabbi Steve Gutow of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs on Rosh Hashanah, that he decided to take the Food Stamp Challenge. This means he would have to get by on no more than $31.50 worth of groceries (the average amount of food stamps granted to a qualifying individual) for an entire week. That’s just $1.50 per meal, without snacks. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, especially since he keeps strictly kosher.

“There were bottles of wine that cost more than $31.50 on the table at holiday meals I had just attended,” Weiss, the director of the Orthodox social justice organization Uri L’Tzedek, told the Jew and the Carrot prior to beginning the challenge, which took place October 27 through November 3. Nonetheless, Weiss was determined — despite the extra difficulty kashrut would pose — to join the many others around the country, including many members of Congress and Jewish community leaders, in experiencing what it is like to be one of the 45.7 million Americans who receive Food Stamp benefits and the one in six American households living in hunger.

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© 2011 Renee Ghert-Zand. All rights reserved.