Yesterday, Senator Kevin Parker wrote to Governor Andrew Cuomo seeking the reversal of former Governor David Paterson’s budget cuts, which eliminated the Kosher Law Enforcement (KLE) Division of the Department of Agriculture. Governor Paterson’s removal of funding from the KLE had met with substantial opposition from among the 1.6 million kosher food consumers of New York.
“Cutting the KLE’s budget will have a detrimental effect on New York State’s robust kosher food market, which is the largest in the world after the State of Israel,” said Senator Parker. “New Yorkers who adhere to kosher, halal and vegetarian diets for religious or health reasons spend approximately $1 billion on kosher certified products, and we owe it to those New Yorkers to continue New York’s century old practice of enforcing the consumer protection laws that safeguards the purity and authenticity of kosher products.”
New York is the United States’ largest producer and consumer of kosher products, and the existence of a strong KLE division is key to that dominant market position. The $40 billion nationwide kosher food industry has important economic implications for this state, and New York’s immense share of that market has historically been guaranteed by its effective and respected Kosher Law Enforcement Division. “The Kosher Law Enforcement Division has grown an industry that provides jobs for thousands of New Yorkers, and safe and reliable food for millions more. I respectfully urge Governor Cuomo to reverse Governor Paterson’s elimination of this important program.”
{Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}
They better listen to Parker or he’ll punch them out!
this appears to be a case of anti-semitsm. there has not been in the government an agency that was totally wiped out as the KLE. the claim that food safety inspectors will be trained to inspect kosher is completely out of line. how can you teach a non-jew what kosher is and who is controlling whether the inspector knows what to look for when he goes to the establishments. we are in golus and this is just another anti-semitic act. wake up everyone and let your voices be heard.
I wouldn’t be so quick to label this anti-Semitism. Is there any reason the goyim should be especially concerned for our particular needs when they conflict with their serious budget issues? Of course, I want them to restore the KLE, and hope they will, but, I think we have to be careful what we decry as anti-emitism and not fan the naturally smoldering embers into a big fire. This golus is not meant to be our ultimate, permanent home, after all.