In Vermont there is a big push to solve the problem small livestock farmers are faced with of insufficient slaughter and butchering facilities and too much dependence on dairy by the Vermont Department of Tourism. Rural Vermont has been working on this here in our state. The House has now passed the bill (H.522) so now it goes to the Senate. Here’s a bit from the Addison Independent:
The Vermont House is scheduled to take action late this week on legislation aimed at boosting the economic viability of area farms, including initiatives that would make it easier for farmers to butcher their poultry and get their products into restaurants and schools.
The House Agriculture Committee on March 16 passed the so-called “farm viability bill” — also known as the farm omnibus bill. The main goals of the bill, according to House leaders, are to foster the development of a diversified agricultural sector; maintain the state’s prominence as a major milk producer in the region; and ensure the continued stewardship of the land with respect for the environment.
“The sense was that Vermont, as a state, can’t afford to keep on supporting dairy; we just don’t have the money to make up from the shortfall in income that comes out of the federal milk pricing system,” said Bray, one of several Addison County lawmakers to speak at a legislative luncheon hosted on Monday by the Northlands Job Corps in Vergennes. “What we really want to be doing is investing in our agricultural future.”
With that in mind, the committee put together a farm viability bill that calls for:
• The state of Vermont to establish a “buy local” system for food and dairy products purchased annually by the state and state-funded entities. It also establishes an Agency of Agriculture program that would provide strategic and technical assistance to local producers and processors for creating or enlarging the facilities necessary to produce or process food for sale to the state or other expanded markets.
• Changes in poultry inspection guidelines. Farmers are currently allowed to slaughter, without inspection, fewer than 1,000 birds for sale to individuals or at farmers’ markets. The new bill would extend the right to sell to restaurants, as well. The Department of Health would promulgate rules for product labels that would include a menu disclosure requirement as well. The department would have until Nov. 1, 2007, to establish the labeling requirements. The bill would only apply to birds produced, slaughtered and consumed in the state of Vermont.
• Authority for “mobile slaughter establishments” to be used on farms or agricultural fairgrounds. [This is the part of the proposal that I am most dubious about. The large $80,000 proposed mobile slaughter units are going to be incredibly expensive to setup, have limited usefulness and be costly to run. Very small units (think small horse trailer) with a scalder and plucker that could be rented out for poultry may make sense. What we really need is more real on-farm slaughter and the capacity already exists for non-poultry in the form of many talented folk already doing game and livestock. -WJ]
“All of these things are very investment-oriented,” said Bray, who added the financing of various provisions of the farm viability measure will have to be sorted out in the fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill. He believes the appropriations bill will include enough money to fund the farm initiatives.
“The Agency of Agriculture is fully behind this,” Bray said. “This is something they have been working on for a while.”-Addison Independent
We need more opening up of government like this. We need recognition that the conditions for small farms are different than the big producers and likewise the regulations should be different. With the way things have been going for that last few decades the government has been regulating small farmers, small slaughter houses and small butchers right out of existence. That is unwise as it will put our citizenry at the whim of far away producers and processors. This means more transport miles for food and less food security. As the government makes the system more complex it becomes easier for malcontents and terrorists to disrupt the weakest links in the chain and constrict the bottlenecks choking off the supply of food to a region.
On-farm slaughter is one of the best solutions for small producers. The poultry is a start.
There will be a meeting on Monday, March 26, 2007 at the Bridport Community Hall - that’s tomorrow as I write this. If you are in Vermont and care about this issue then attend. If you care and are outside Vermont then push for similar support for diversified sustainable agriculture in your area. Let’s work to each improve our little bit of the world.
Hooray VT! If I could be in Bridport tomorrow I would, but I live a world away.
You are right to be wary of the Mobile Slaughter Unit. The one available to my area of WA cost over $125,000 and there are maintenance costs, the driver/slaughterman, the inspector, fuel and a Brick-and-Mortar processing facility.
I think it would honestly be easier and cheaper to group farmers into regions and allow them to create an On-Farm slaughter facility. It literally doesn’t have to be more than a basic restaurant set up for processing, after all once the USDA inspects a carcass it can be handled any way necessary in a restaurant.
These farmers could pool money or receive a grant to set up the site on one farm and lease it to others. A per-hour Butcher could be hired for the day–or the Farmer could learn to do this himself–and an inspector could show up at the appointed time. This is the way forward for farmers and a local food system to develop marketability in the face of the big boys.
Comment Podchef — March 25, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
I just met with a local cattleman last night who was saying our mobile slaughter facility is pretty much useless, except in rare instances. We are on the same page wanting and needing to address the slaughter issue to promote buying local. One of our biggest issues will be the ‘Disposal of Dead Animals’ (including any remains from slaughter)proposed regs that WSDA held hearings on last week. Argh!
Comment Celeste — March 26, 2007 @ 6:52 am
Vermont better be careful. It may end up being the only state in the union fit to live in. Think of the population influx! Of course, we could all bring our food.
Comment Patricia Hampton — March 26, 2007 @ 7:36 am
There is a related article in the Burlington Freepress about poultry slaughter.
Comment walterj — March 26, 2007 @ 9:30 am
The Burlington Freepress is doing a poll about poultry slaughter. Go vote… I voted Yes. At that time it was running about 72% no votes on 1220 votes with 4% undecided and 24% yes votes.
-WalterJ
Poultry Inspection
Do you agree with the provision that would allow farms with fewer than 1,000 birds to sell them to Vermont restaurants without inspection?
Cool… I can make the results display here. The above is where it was this morning… Below is where it is now…
Comment walterj — March 26, 2007 @ 10:12 am
Whats the difference they hardley inspect our food as it is, if they did there would not be any RECALLS. Our pet industry is Self Policed, we use to be able eat our food with the assurance our food was safe, but now you need to burn it in order to eat it.
I voted yes…
Comment Gisela — March 26, 2007 @ 11:38 am
For Podchef: No grants, no grants. Taking grants from the government makes you beholden in other ways. No grants. It makes more sense, and is more self-sufficient, to have farmers pool their money. That is a good idea!
Comment Henwhisperer — March 26, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
Gotcha just Got Me.
I am pulling hard for VT Farmers on this one. I guess, Henwhisperer, I was thinking of local, community, private grants which sometimes come up for rural community development, rather than Govt. grants which I abhor.
I have studied aging rooms in Irish Country House Hotels quite a bit. Specialty poultry rooms, rooms for Lamb, Mutton, Pork and Beef. I think hanging and customer service may be the biggest snags in on-farm slaughter.
Farm Shops and a central meat locker, or at least a generous local farmer with a large walk-in cooler are some what of a necessity. I plan on building one someday myself. I feel grass-fed meats need long aging at proper temps. Beef–4 weeks, lamb 2 weeks at least, mutton longer. Pork can hang for 4 days and be greatly improved and pastured poultry isn’t done any harm by a few days hanging–after all we hang pheasants and the like. But this is for grass-fed meat, not commercially raised animals which would putrify if you tried to age them decently.
Now excuse me while I get back to looking through the listings of the VLT. . . .
Comment Podchef — March 26, 2007 @ 6:14 pm
Another “yes” vote here…if more people knew what goes on in “factory farms” and understood that the “inspection
process” is a farce and can’t possibly be controlled due to the production speed and human greed etc. they’d vote yes too.
Government Inspection = OXYMORON…sort of like government efficiency
“They” don’t want local food to become the norm as it used to be…my grandmother used to bring fresh chickens into town
over 60 years ago and earn her pocket money that way, she’d probably get out the rolling pin for the NAISTY Feds if she were still alive!
Comment Bob Constantine — March 26, 2007 @ 6:48 pm
Beginner Farmers NH has an MPU that can be rented out. Cost is cheap. It’s small and contained in an old horse trailer. Works slick!
Comment Sue F — March 27, 2007 @ 1:45 am
Think of the size of Menu foods. They would be buying tons and tons of wheat to produce 95 brands. If it were a few random bait traps swept up in the shipping it would have been diluted down to harmless. Something else happened.
This could so easily happen to a human food supply. Nobody is watching and just worried about the bottom line.
Some serious problems with our food supply.
Comment Sue F — March 27, 2007 @ 1:54 am
What I took away from this Capital Press article most was that this all happened for a 10 cent price difference in Chinese wheat gluten vs American. 10 Cents a &*&!@# pound less! What about the cost of shipping, the fuel, the farmers who grew the wheat?
Further blame falls squarely on the misplaced shoulders of the Ethanol Boom. Why? Our great and wondrous Corn-Based fuel solution has jacked up the cost of all feed commodities. Many of the grains I buy have become more expensive–oats, barley, wheat bran–and hard to come by. While this is probably a temporary rise in cost (Bush and his Brazilian Sugarcane dealings will hurt American Corn Farmers right out of their ethanol high) to head overseas for a ten cent price difference is criminal.
You really have to wonder if American food industries who use wheat gluten are paying attention or if this could happen to people food. Do Egg Roll wrappers contain wheat gluten. . . ?
Comment Podchef — March 27, 2007 @ 8:12 am
Seitan, used by many vegans and vegetarians, IS wheat gluten.
Other items that could contain wheat gluten include:
toothpaste
Additives
Artificial flavorings
Caramel color
Colorings and dyes
Dextrins
Emulsifiers & softeners
Hydrolyzed plant protein
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Malt Vinegar
Mono- & di-glycerides
Natural flavorings
Preservatives
Spices (anti-caking agents)
Starches, modified food starches
I’m looking for a more complete list.
Comment Henwhisperer — March 27, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
If I won the lottery today, I’d move to Vermont tomorrow!
The “no’s’ still have the polls. Poor brainwashed America.
Comment Carolyn S. — March 27, 2007 @ 9:48 pm
“Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food earlier this month” … “for a 10 cent price difference in Chinese wheat gluten vs American.”
So, Menu Foods, how’s the 10 cent price difference stacking up now?!!! Talk about penny-wise and pounds (dollar) foolish!
Comment Mary H — April 4, 2007 @ 9:56 pm