Postville, Iowa

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Postville is a city in Allamakee County, Iowa near the junction of four counties and at the intersection of US Highways 18 and 52 and Iowa Highway 51. The population was 2,273 at the 2000 census. The city is located in the southwestern corner of Allamakee County in a quad county or four corner region where four counties meet in the same spot. Clayton County is just to the south of town, Winneshiek County is just to the west, and Fayette County is located just to the southwest of Postville.

1 History
2 Economy
- 2.1 Orthodox reaction to PETA
- 2.2 Orthodox reaction to the Forward
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 External links

[edit] History

Predominantly German and Norwegian for much of its existence, a group of Hasidic Jews of the Lubavitch movement from New York purchased a Kosher slaughterhouse there in 1987. Since then, Postville has seen a large influx of many ethnic peoples, especially Ukrainians, Russians, Mexicans, Guatemalans and Filipinos. The town has been the focus of much attention in seeing the Postville natives interact with the very different newcomers of their town. A book on the town, Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America (ISBN 0-15-100652-0) was written by Stephen G. Bloom, a professor at the University of Iowa.

Although there has rarely existed outright hostility between the Postville natives and newcomers, there has often been tension between them, especially among the Hasidic community. In September 1991, a Jew from Postville robbed a convenience store in Decorah, Iowa, seriously wounding the clerk. This event drew a lot of negative attention towards the new Jewish community moving into Postville. Another attempted murder within the Hasidic community and a murder within in Hispanic community in 2000 furthered disenchantment between Postville natives and newcomers. Other religious differences have existed as well. For example, the decision of putting up Christmas decorations in the downtown district proved to be more difficult than before, and was a major argument on the city council in 2002.

Postville was also the boyhood home of 1946 Nobel laureate John R. Mott.

The name of the Orthodox synagogue in Postville is Congregation Ahavat Israel. The main Latino restaurant is Sabor Latino.

[edit] Economy

Postville's growth during the last 15 years has been due two the presence of two large meat processing plants, AgriProcessors and Iowa Turkey Products. AgriProcessors, the kosher meat plant, is the largest of its type in the world, which as of December 2004 employs about 700 people and purchases $100 million worth of livestock annually. Iowa Turkey Products, which burnt in December 2003, was another major employer in the community. The plant hopes to rebuild in Marshall, Minnesota.

AgriProcessors has often been shrouded with controversy. In 2004 a lawsuit was filed against AgriProcessors alleging that the producer violated the Clean Water Act by dumping water with high salt concentrations into public water resovoirs. PETA also released a videotape in December 2004 showing, among other things, cattle with their tracheas and esophagi dangling out of their throats and some of them appearing to survive for minutes after shechita. A few of the cattle were even able to stand after being dumped from the rotating slaughter pen. This has sparked the attention of the USDA, Orthodox Union and K'hal Adath Jeshurun to examine AgriProcessors' methods of slaughter. In March 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture released a report of its investigation which found that AgriProcessors had "engaged in acts of inhumane slaughter" and bribed federal inspectors with free meat while the USDA's inspectors played computer games and slept on the job. [1] [2] Nonetheless, no criminal charges were filed against AgriProcessors. On June 27, 2006, Dr. Temple Grandin, a leading expert on animal welfare in the meat industry, came to Postville to inspect AgriProcessors. Having earlier denounced what she saw on the PETA video as "an atrocious abomination," she noted after her visit that AgriProcessors had made significant improvements in animal handling, but that they had to learn to keep their process good. [3]

In May 2006, The Forward, a Jewish weekly in New York City, published a lead article accusing AgriProcessors of being a "kosher jungle" where undocumented immigrants were subjected to hazardous working conditions, deprived of medical care for their injuries, and cheated out of pay they had legitimately earned. [4] The Forward also claimed that AgriProcessors paid the lowest wages of any meatpacking plant in the US and intimidated those workers who wanted to unionize. In an editorial, The Forward asked how meat which comes from a slaughterhouse which mistreats its workers could possibly be kosher. [5] Subsequently, a task force of Conservative rabbis lead by Rabbi Morris Allen of St. Paul, Minnesota, announced they were going on a fact-finding mission to Postville to investigate The Forward's allegations. [6]

[edit] Orthodox reaction to PETA

Most Orthodox Jewish leaders have come out in support of AgriProcessors and denounced PETA's tactics and aims. See the:

Message from Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Orthodox Union executive Vice President, and Rabbi Menachem Genack, OU Kashrut rabbinic administrator. [7]
Statement of Rabbis and certifying agencies on the shechita controversy at AgriProcessors. [8]
Rabbi Dr. I.M. Levinger praising procedures at AgriProcessors. [9]
Iowa's Agriculture Secretary Patty Judge calls kosher slaughter at Agriprocessors' "humane". [10]

A few Orthodox rabbis sided with PETA, including Rabbi David Rosen, former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, who called AgriProcessors procedures a "flagrant violation of Jewish halachic requirments" which rendered the animals' meat "totally non-kosher as a result." [11].

[edit] Orthodox reaction to the Forward

Rabbi Asher Zeilingold of United Mehadrin Kosher (the agency which certifies AgriProcessors' non-glatt meat) went to Postville with a Spanish-speaking colleague from his congregation after publication of The Forward article and claimed that most of AgriProcessors workers were well treated and happy with their jobs. [12]

[edit] Geography

Postville is located at 43°5′6″N, 91°34′10″W (43.085102, -91.569515)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.4 km² (2.1 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,273 people, 792 households, and 548 families residing in the city. The population density was 421.9/km² (1,093.6/mi²). There were 824 housing units at an average density of 153.0/km² (396.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 79.59% White, 0.62% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 17.03% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.63% of the population.

There were 792 households out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.7% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,667, and the median income for a family was $40,125. Males had a median income of $22,083 versus $16,596 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,264. About 9.4% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.7% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.