I think this is a good start. In the past I have bought 2 of the brands mentioned in this article.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 4562.story

What does kosher mean? Hekhsher Tzedek causing a rift in the Jewish community
Idea of new seal of approval is getting mixed reviews after packaging plant raid shakes S. Florida Jews
By Lois K. Solomon | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
September 24, 2008
They trusted that the meat they ate met the highest kosher standards.

But some South Florida Jewish families — after a raid on a meatpacking plant exposed harsh working conditions and a growing list of alleged crimes — are questioning whether that trust has been broken.

The May raid on the Iowa plant destroyed their lifelong beliefs in the sanctity of Judaism's kosher laws.

Some now are promoting a new seal on kosher food that would assure not only that the meat was raised, killed and processed according to the ancient kosher laws, but also would impose strict guidelines for treatment of employees, animals and the environment.

Not every kosher Jew is supporting the movement. Many in the Orthodox community have rejected Hekhsher Tzedek, saying the existing kosher certification system assures the animals are slaughtered to biblical standards. Immigration and environmental violations, they say, should be handled by the government.

The proposal has pit Jews who think age-old kosher laws are sufficient against Jews who think kosher also means workers and animals are treated according to contemporary moral and safety standards.

Shrock said she was deeplydisturbed by the raid at the Agriprocessors kosher plant in Postville, Iowa, which found hundreds of alleged illegal workers, and feels deceived that the meat she feeds her family may not have met the ethical standards she thought came with the kosher seal. The plant's brands include Rubashkin, Aaron's Best and David's.

Shrock agonized recently at the meat freezer of Aroma kosher market in Cooper City, torn between the Jewish requirement to keep kosher and her personal ethical standards. She ended up buying the meat.

"I could have gotten fish, but I bought the Aaron's," said Shrock, who spoke to the manager of Aroma recently about kosher brands with moral criteria. "I bought it because I needed it, but I felt like I was being disloyal to my own ethics."

Shelley Gross, a Conservative Jew from Boca Raton, said she, too, feels conflicted. She watches the controversy unfold but thinks she must uphold the biblically commanded dietary laws, which preclude mixing meat with milk, eating only certain animals killed in a certain way and not ingesting their blood.

"I have a sense that God commanded me to keep kosher," Gross said. "So I will keep buying it if there is no alternative."

Federal agents raided Agriprocessors and arrested about 400 workers they said were in the United States illegally. The plant remains open, but authorities cited it for 31 safety violations. Earlier this month, the Iowa attorney general brought more than 9,000 misdemeanor child labor charges against the company.

Companies participating in Hekhsher Tzedek would have to prove they pay a fair wage with benefits, do not abuse animals, have safe conditions at their slaughterhouses and have little environmental impact.

"This is what we always believed keeping kosher was about," said Rabbi Morris Allen of Mendota Heights, Minn., Hekhsher Tzedek project director. "In fulfilling the laws of [keeping kosher], we want to bring a sense of holiness into the world. It speaks to the whole notion of who we are as Jews."

Rabbi Paul Plotkin of Temple Beth Am in Margate, chair of the Conservative movement's committee on keeping kosher, believes social-justice criteria might be useful for kosher food, but thinks Hekhsher Tzedek is overly ambitious."They have pages and pages of criteria," Plotkin said. "I don't know how many companies will be able to fulfill all their requirements."

Rabbi David Steinhardt of B'nai Torah Congregation, a Conservative synagogue in Boca Raton, has asked his members to stop buying Agriprocessors products. The synagogue's caterer has stopped serving Agriprocessors meats. Steinhardt is organizing meetings of rabbis in hopes of reaching a consensus across denominations about eating and ethical behavior.

"This goes way beyond food," Steinhardt said. "We need to think seriously about the workers, the animals and the environment. We need to address this as a community."