Melissa Hoffman, M.S.

Kosher companies and Jewish media are sounding an alarm that kosher chicken is in short supply in anticipation of Passover.

The data confirms what JIFA has inferred from previous research that shows people think kosher food is inherently better: consumers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, extend this belief to the way farmed animals are bred and raised, despite the fact virtually all kosher and non-kosher meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs come from animal raised on factory farms.

The concept of kosher has been a mainstay of Jewish life for centuries. Ancient kashrut laws have provided Jewish communities with a framework for determining which foods are “fit to eat” and how to slaughter animals according to approved religious procedures.

Most kosher-certified animal products—and generally all of the ones found in grocery stores— come from the same factory farms that raise the vast majority of non-kosher animals for food.

Bans do more to restrict religious practices than to improve conditions for farmed animals—like in the US, most meat, including kosher, comes from animals that spend their entire lives on factory farms.