The prospect of summer grilling season might bring a tear to the eye of any patriotic Canadian, but it’s the eye-watering prices in the meat aisle that are stirring up the most emotion this year.

The cost of beef remains stratospheric—up nearly 63 per cent since 2021 and over 12 per cent over the past year alone, according to Statistics Canada. Even switching to less expensive meats, such as chicken thighs, offers little relief.

But for Jews who eat only kosher meat, those prices are almost enviable.

A major fire on July 28 at one of the largest kosher meat-processing plants in the United States threatens to drive up kosher meat prices ahead of the High Holidays. The fire at AgriStar Meat & Poultry in Postville, Iowa, destroyed at least 75 per cent of the plant and put more than 600 people out of work, city officials said.

While the damaged facility will likely mean a shortage of kosher beef and chicken in the United States, the Kashruth Council of Canada is reassuring Canadian Jews that it does not foresee any disruption to the domestic kosher meat supply chain. But that doesn't change the fact that the rising cost of living is squeezing meat off many dinner tables this year—and some kosher Jews are ahead of that curve, cutting out meat already to hold an easier kosher life, and going full vegetarian or vegan.

Today on the podcast, our rabbinic podcasters ask: How did meat come to play such a significant role in Jewish culture and cuisine? What is its spiritual and emotional significance in the community? And does it have to be this way?

Credits

• Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl
• Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer), Alicia Richler (editorial director)
• Music: Socalled

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