sfvoyage

First of all, I believe that in general, if airlines offer special meals, they should make them class-specific. After all, someone sitting in F has paid (with $ or miles or certs, op ups notwithstanding) for F meals, not J or Y meals. I am vegetarian and know that many times, my VLML, VGML, AGML, or IVML main dish in F or C may not be that different from the Y version, but at least it's plated and presented correctly, and I get the same number of courses (and sometimes an extra small fruit dish) and experience as the regular F/C meal.

Now, concerning kosher meals, there may be another consideration - serving ware. I recall one of my Jewish friends keeping 2 sets of plates, utensils, etc. at home, so that when he entertains, he can serve kosher and non-kosher guests. The idea is that kosher food should be served on kosher plates. If that's the case (please chime in, as I'm not an expert on Jewish rules and traditions), then I see some validity in a throwaway cardbox box for Kosher meals. But then, back to my original point, they should have additional boxes for additional courses, so that the Kosher meal itself is as elaborate as the regular F/J meal.

I just re-read the above post and now understand that UA gets it right, by using brand new plates for Kosher meals, and then releasing them to serve non-kosher meals. Yes, I agree this would be logistically challenging, not to mention difficult to enforce.