The percentage of Jews using kosher meat, which was 87.2 percent in 1938, fell to an all-time low of 67.3 percent in 1951, according to the findings of the research department of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
The high price of kosher meat is driving an increasing number of Jews, who care less about Kashruth, to buy the cheaper meat sold in non-kosher or non-Jewish stores. The retail prices of kosher meat in Montreal range from 41 cents a pound higher for fancy cuts, to 16 cents a pound higher for the cheaper cuts than do the prices charged in the chain stores.
Unlike the situation in many other large Jewish communities in the United States and Canada, all matters concerning Shechita and Kashruth are under the exclusive control of the Montreal Jewish Community Council, which is the only organization authorized to issue licenses to kosher butchers.
While the Council maintains efficient and effective control over all kosher slaughtering operations, and over the supervision and inspection of retail kosher butcher shops to ensure that they are conducted in conformity with the religious requirements of Kashruth, it does not include within its functions any provision for controlling the prices charged for kosher meat sold by butchers holding its license or “Kosher Card.”
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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.
