Orthodox monopolies and price gouging in kosher meat supervision are driving Conservative Jewish families away from religious dietary observance, with costs exceeding non-kosher alternatives by up to 150% - far beyond the 15% premium industry experts consider justified. Through autobiographical narrative, the author chronicles his family's journey from non-observance to embracing kashrut, initially inspired by their daughter's involvement in Leaders' Training Fellowship (LTF), only to face mounting disillusionment. Extensive interviews with rabbis, publishers, laymen, and kosher butchers, combined with comprehensive analysis of kashrut economics literature, reveal a system that prioritizes profit over religious service. The investigation exposes both the Orthodox rabbinate's monopolistic practices and the Conservative movement's inadequate response to mounting financial burdens on observant families. Rather than serving as a communal religious institution, modern kashrut supervision operates as a commercial enterprise, creating unnecessary barriers to observance and compromising the spiritual integrity of Jewish dietary laws. Without decisive rabbinical intervention to establish community-supervised, non-profit kashrut systems, more families may abandon these traditional practices entirely, threatening Conservative Judaism's commitment to traditional observance.