This is something we are totally worried about. We'd love to sell our excess turkeys (and eventually ruminants), but finding a slaughterhouse may be difficult, even out here. And, I'm not particularly interested in an "assembly-line" style place. The whole point for me of raising animals is the control - I know how they were raised and I know how they were killed. I wouldn't be comfortable shipping my animals off to someplace I haven't personally visited. ...not that the visit would be comfortable at all. It would probably suck, but it would suck more if learned it was a bad operation later in life.
But, if we want to sell our farm animals as meat, we gotta do what the government says. We got to have the government protect us!!
Actually, "government protection" via USDA inspection is optional. The meat just sells better that way, and that is just good 'ol Capitalism.
We buy our meat from a farmer who uses a non-USDA inspection shop, and we have never had an issue. The butcher has told me herself over the phone of how the animals are inspected pre- and post-slaughter and our farmer maintains a high level of personal control and overview on the whole process. Like the article said, the problem is just that someone has to buy the whole (or half) animal upfront. And also, you need a farmer who will be involved in the whole process - not just drop the animal off whenever and pick up the cuts later.
I feel like this article dramatizes the issue a little bit (our butcher is in Moravia, smack in th middle of the finger lakes), but there is a bottle neck, that hopefully can be solved by people who value a relationship with a local butcher (USDA or no) and pay a fair price for their meat. FWIW, we pay $65 plus $0.85 a pound for butcher services alone.
Respectfully, this doesn't look like good ole capitalism to me. It looks like the government is saying "if you sell your animals in this certain way (as meat in 1 pound increments) you must follow these rules. If you sell your animals this other way (as whole or half 'live' animals), you can follow these much less onerous rules."
A farmer says in the article "The profit margin was smaller and cash flow was far worse for selling live animals."
It seems to me the system highly favors large meat producers at the expense of the small farmer.
I'm glad the system works for you, but I'm sure you realize that you are exceptional and have a higher awareness and interest in these systems than the average consumer.
I've been to the farmers market and bought 2 lbs of ground lamb from the nice organic farmer. I am sure he sells more meat that way, than by the whole or half lamb. Why should we have rules that makes it harder for him to do the thing that people want? Especially when the end result (ground lamb from the nice organic farmer) is the same?
Are those rules, or higher costs due to a more rigorous inspection process? Whichever, that program exists to protect public health - which is, ostensibly, the prime reason to have government programs.
Our farmer only sells meat that way, and seems to have plenty of customers. I think it comes down to business model and not size of production.
"With the exception of small amounts of poultry, in most states farmers cannot butcher their own animals or sell any meat products that aren’t USDA inspected." http://www.farmaid.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=qlI5IhNVJsE&b=2723877&ct=5484971
Basically, it seems the government is *dictating* the business model.
I agree it is nice to have the government look after my safety so far as to ensure that Huns are not invading my land and GE is not pouring carcinogens into my well water. But there is a level wherein the governement starts acting like a nanny and tries to protect me from things I should really be aware of myself. This sort of thinking leads us down a path where we continually rely on the government to protect us. We set up systems and regulations to feed into that protection.
Eventually we get to a point where people tell me they would never eat eggs from chickens they raised themselves because there is no government protection ensuring they are safe to eat (true story).
Personally, I'd love to work with a local, family butcher to process my adorable lambs to sell at a farmers market in 1 lb packages. It is my understanding that regulations make it illegal for me to do so.
Also...this makes me feel very cynical and crusty:
"Whichever, that program exists to protect public health"
because I think it exists to decrease competition for large meat operations, whose whole purpose is to sell meat in 1 pound packages.
The government is not saying "you can't get meat unless the USDA inspects it" they are saying "you can't buy the exact same meat *in 1 pound packages* unless the USDA inspects it."
Very different things. I don't think it's about public safety at all.
My understanding of the rules (for Indiana) is as thus:
If I want to package meat for sale to the public in a retail or wholesale manner, I must use a state inspected and certified processing facility. The state inspection criteria are identical to the USDA inspection criteria.
I can get around that by selling direct ownership of the animal to an individual or individuals, who can then have the animal processed however they want - by me, or I can subcontract that to neighbor Bubba. In effect, I change the wording and the technical details of the transaction, also perhaps the quantity of meat involved, and I can sell my meat without interference.
In a nutshell, if I buy it by the package at a farmers market, USDA inspection required. If I talk to the same farmer at that market, arrange to buy a half a lamb, then no USDA inspection required. I still get the same meat either way, probably wrapped in very similar packages, though much less government intervention with one of those options.
This system allows for a technical wiggle room for people to sell meat without interference, which is good, but when you start thinking about sustainability, and where most people end up getting their meat (ie from retail establishments like Wegmans or Wal-mart) the regs and implementation do seem to favor economy of scale. Those retail markets are effectively becoming closed to small producers while food production becomes more and more consolidated. This does not seem like a good thing if one holds the notion that local agriculture is an important component of sustainable communities.
The best part is the last name of one of the local slaughterhouse experts: Broccoli. I kid you not.
ReplyDeleteThis is something we are totally worried about. We'd love to sell our excess turkeys (and eventually ruminants), but finding a slaughterhouse may be difficult, even out here. And, I'm not particularly interested in an "assembly-line" style place. The whole point for me of raising animals is the control - I know how they were raised and I know how they were killed. I wouldn't be comfortable shipping my animals off to someplace I haven't personally visited. ...not that the visit would be comfortable at all. It would probably suck, but it would suck more if learned it was a bad operation later in life.
ReplyDeleteBut, if we want to sell our farm animals as meat, we gotta do what the government says. We got to have the government protect us!!
Actually, "government protection" via USDA inspection is optional. The meat just sells better that way, and that is just good 'ol Capitalism.
ReplyDeleteWe buy our meat from a farmer who uses a non-USDA inspection shop, and we have never had an issue. The butcher has told me herself over the phone of how the animals are inspected pre- and post-slaughter and our farmer maintains a high level of personal control and overview on the whole process. Like the article said, the problem is just that someone has to buy the whole (or half) animal upfront. And also, you need a farmer who will be involved in the whole process - not just drop the animal off whenever and pick up the cuts later.
I feel like this article dramatizes the issue a little bit (our butcher is in Moravia, smack in th middle of the finger lakes), but there is a bottle neck, that hopefully can be solved by people who value a relationship with a local butcher (USDA or no) and pay a fair price for their meat. FWIW, we pay $65 plus $0.85 a pound for butcher services alone.
Respectfully, this doesn't look like good ole capitalism to me. It looks like the government is saying "if you sell your animals in this certain way (as meat in 1 pound increments) you must follow these rules. If you sell your animals this other way (as whole or half 'live' animals), you can follow these much less onerous rules."
ReplyDeleteA farmer says in the article "The profit margin was smaller and cash flow was far worse for selling live animals."
It seems to me the system highly favors large meat producers at the expense of the small farmer.
I'm glad the system works for you, but I'm sure you realize that you are exceptional and have a higher awareness and interest in these systems than the average consumer.
I've been to the farmers market and bought 2 lbs of ground lamb from the nice organic farmer. I am sure he sells more meat that way, than by the whole or half lamb. Why should we have rules that makes it harder for him to do the thing that people want? Especially when the end result (ground lamb from the nice organic farmer) is the same?
Are those rules, or higher costs due to a more rigorous inspection process? Whichever, that program exists to protect public health - which is, ostensibly, the prime reason to have government programs.
ReplyDeleteOur farmer only sells meat that way, and seems to have plenty of customers. I think it comes down to business model and not size of production.
I'm pretty sure they are rules.
ReplyDelete"With the exception of small amounts of poultry, in most states farmers cannot butcher their own animals or sell any meat products that aren’t USDA inspected."
http://www.farmaid.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=qlI5IhNVJsE&b=2723877&ct=5484971
Basically, it seems the government is *dictating* the business model.
I agree it is nice to have the government look after my safety so far as to ensure that Huns are not invading my land and GE is not pouring carcinogens into my well water. But there is a level wherein the governement starts acting like a nanny and tries to protect me from things I should really be aware of myself. This sort of thinking leads us down a path where we continually rely on the government to protect us. We set up systems and regulations to feed into that protection.
Eventually we get to a point where people tell me they would never eat eggs from chickens they raised themselves because there is no government protection ensuring they are safe to eat (true story).
Personally, I'd love to work with a local, family butcher to process my adorable lambs to sell at a farmers market in 1 lb packages. It is my understanding that regulations make it illegal for me to do so.
reposted with slightly better grammar:
ReplyDeleteAlso...this makes me feel very cynical and crusty:
"Whichever, that program exists to protect public health"
because I think it exists to decrease competition for large meat operations, whose whole purpose is to sell meat in 1 pound packages.
The government is not saying "you can't get meat unless the USDA inspects it" they are saying "you can't buy the exact same meat *in 1 pound packages* unless the USDA inspects it."
Very different things. I don't think it's about public safety at all.
My understanding of the rules (for Indiana) is as thus:
ReplyDeleteIf I want to package meat for sale to the public in a retail or wholesale manner, I must use a state inspected and certified processing facility. The state inspection criteria are identical to the USDA inspection criteria.
I can get around that by selling direct ownership of the animal to an individual or individuals, who can then have the animal processed however they want - by me, or I can subcontract that to neighbor Bubba. In effect, I change the wording and the technical details of the transaction, also perhaps the quantity of meat involved, and I can sell my meat without interference.
In a nutshell, if I buy it by the package at a farmers market, USDA inspection required. If I talk to the same farmer at that market, arrange to buy a half a lamb, then no USDA inspection required. I still get the same meat either way, probably wrapped in very similar packages, though much less government intervention with one of those options.
This system allows for a technical wiggle room for people to sell meat without interference, which is good, but when you start thinking about sustainability, and where most people end up getting their meat (ie from retail establishments like Wegmans or Wal-mart) the regs and implementation do seem to favor economy of scale. Those retail markets are effectively becoming closed to small producers while food production becomes more and more consolidated. This does not seem like a good thing if one holds the notion that local agriculture is an important component of sustainable communities.