paramount to the Code Authority,” Mr. Andron said, are those of the consumer and the kosher butcher. Both must be protected. We cannot state too emphatically that it is the packer, not the retail merchant, who is responsible for today’s exorbitant kosher meat prices. Whether the packer is justified in demanding current prices is something which we intend to determine during the course of our investigation.”
PRICES JUMP
Charles Cohen, president of the Federation of Kosher Butchers of Greater New York, complained to the Code Authority that beef which a month ago sold at from twelve to fourteen cents a pound in the wholesale market today brings from twenty to twenty-four cents.
Veal, which sold at from seven to thirteen cents, has gone as high as twenty-five cents, he said, while lamb, formerly sold wholesale at from twelve to fourteen cents, is scarcely available today at twenty cents a pound.
“We retailers,” he declared, “must face the Jewish housewife and take the blame for prohibitive prices which are no fault of ours. The fact is that at today’s prices most of us are selling at a loss, while we were able to at least realize scant profits when meat was much less expensive wholesale.
“These conditions have brought us to a pass where unless some immediate and drastic step is taken to alleviate our condition, we may as well close our shops. And that is what we will do if we do not get immediate relief.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
