Farm to Table Meat Processing Panel Notes
Notes from Colleen Donovan
Panelists
- Marcy Ostrom, WSU Small Farm Program
- Terry Swagerty, WSU Extension and Stevens County MPU
- Cheryl Ouellette, Puget Sound Meat Producers Cooperative
- Norman Suverly, WSU Extension Okanogan County, and Albert Roberts, Pinestump Farm
Note taker/facilitator: Colleen Donovan, Heifer International
Take home messages
- Consumer education about where their meat comes from and the “behind the scenes” battles farmers face
- There is hope farmers. Need to hang in there long enough to change the paradigm.
- Organizing a team of partners is key strategy.
Discussion notes
- There is an overall lack of processing options for direct marketing.
- Consequently, many people operate “under the radar.”
- Quality control during processing is essential for quality in the meat.
Skills Needed
- There is a serious need for quality, skilled butchers (and slaughtermen). Some are trained, and then leave. Others are aging.
- The Puget Sound Meat Producers Co-op strategy is to make butchers part of the MPU team.
- They are also taking an “onion” approach to leadership so that there are many layers to work with.
- There is also a need over workforce training in deli and baking.
Inspection & Certification
- When processing meat, types of inspection/certification include USDA, WSDA, organic. Need to keep requirements straight and needs clear re: processing.
- Working with WSDA Food Safety inspectors is key.
- The availability of inspectors is complicated by lack of staff at WSDA food safety. They also charge more for exceeding 25 mile radius.
- Discussion around possibilities of reinstating WSDA meat inspection. One perspective is to not rely on USDA and work with the state only. Another is to make enough demands of USDA so that they provide inspectors (and avoid requiring scare state fund and start-up/training time).
Infrastructure
- Cold storage at cut and wrap facilities/MPUs can limit their ability to increase number of animals hanging. This means it is hard for some people to get in.
- With MPUs, the more time they are on the road, the less is spent processing.
- One strategy is to work with existing cut and wrap/fixed facilities (e.g. grocery store in Okanogan) to upgrade to USDA.
- Need to have enough animals to schedule enough work for an entire day.
Eastern & Central Washington
- There is one kill truck in Chelan Co.; two in Okanogan; none in Kittitas Co.
- You have to contend with cold weather in Eastern and Central Washington.
- Limitations of feed resources.
Partnerships
- Speakers mentioned working non-profits (Island Grown, Stevens County, Puget Sound), WSU extension (all panelists), community colleges (Okanogan), WSDA.
- Puget Sound Co-op is taking a regional approach to get a “balloon” of coverage.
Funding
- Panelists mentioned funding from USDA Rural Development, Conservation Districts.
Marketing
- Finding buyers for custom meat can be hard. Okanogan looked at/is following? example that uses more of a “meat broker” model from NC (?).