Comparison

I live in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. Russian and Jewish. Because of that on Saturdays the area is dead quiet. Almost all the stores are closed with the exception of a Russian (not orthodox) gourmet store, a Chinese kitchen and a couple of pizza places, and a few smaller stores. There is also a large Chinese restaurant that is kosher and is closed from Friday through Sunday.

The Jewish stores are all kosher or Glatt kosher. Just because something is kosher it costs more than the non-kosher designated item. Why? Because the rabbi is charging more for his time to certify the kosherness of the item? Because many times we don't feel like going to a supermarket further away, we are forced to subsidize the good old rabbi.

Interestingly in more Jewish neighborhoods there are Halal stores, also. Halal is the Muslim version of kosher. They are there and they thrive. Their meats and other food item are just as clean as the kosher ones. The difference is that they are less expensive as the kosher. Maybe the imam doesn't charge as much as the rabbi? Makes one think which place to shop.

In my area there are food trucks on the streets that sell Halal certified food. They are reasonable and very tasty. They sell lamb, beef and chicken items. We all love their lamb on rice and salad. It is filling and don't cost much. I call it street food because that is where they are selling it. They are very popular. The vendors are mostly from some formerly soviet territory, and all Muslims and don't mind the Jewish clientele. And they work seven days a week, so they are very reliable. Actually, this is what we are having for dinner tonight, inshallah.