Chicken Shechita

Chicken Shechita at Green Oaks Creek Farm:

For a first-hand experience in producing sustainable kosher meat -- and the opportunity to take bring home one or more delicious, pasture-raised, kosher chickens -- participants joined us the day before the 2009 Food Conference on Wednesday, December 23.

We met on the farm at 8:30 am to observe the shechita (ritual slaughter) and to help pluck, clean, soak, and salt organically raised chickens. If you are old enough to be a bar or bat mitzvah, you are old enough to volunteer for these tasks. No experience was necessary. Participants were expected to wear warm work clothes and to be prepared to get their hands dirty.

And, perhaps best of all, participants (and only participants) could buy these chickens! Pre-order was required, for whole chickens, at a cost of $6/lb. (Birds are expected to weigh 4.5 pounds each.) If you were buying birds, you needed to do so by Mon, Dec 21.

Location of the Farm:
Green Oaks Creek Farm is located off Highway 1 in Pescadero, CA, halfway between San Francisco and Asilomar.  San Francisco is about a 1.5 hour drive north, and Asilomar is less than a 2 hour drive south.

All volunteers were responsible for arranging their own transportation to and from the farm and for brining their own bag lunches.

About the Farmer, Shochet, and Mashgiach:

• The chicken farmer: Caleb Barron raises chickens organically, humanely, and on pasture at Green Oaks Creek Farm, a cooperative farm in Pescadero, CA
• The shochet (ritual slaughter): Naftali Hanau learned shechitah in Brooklyn and Scranton, PA, under the decorated shochet, Yehuda Benshemchoun of Crowne Heights, Brooklyn. Naftali and his wife, Anna, sourced all of the meat for their recent wedding themselves, including butchering the lambs and goats on the farm.
• The mashgiach (kashrut supervisor): Rabbi Seth Mandel is the Kosher Rabbinic Coordinator of the Orthodox Union and oversees all shechita that is performed under the auspices of the OU.

 

Nearby Accommodations:
There are two nearby options for volunteers who wished to stay nearby on the evenings before (Tuesday, December 22) or after (Wednesday, December 23) the shechita.

The Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, situated on the beautiful Central California Coast, is a ten-minute drive (or easy bike ride) from the farm. For more upscale accommodations, the Costanoa resort is also nearby. Make your reservations soon, because they are likely to fill up during the holidays.

Volunteer sign up for the Chicken Shechita is now closed.