Itinerant Custom Slaughter

[Carl Russell]

Yeah, Randy is my nemesis. He just loves to try to make VAA look so reasonable, like they aren’t trying to work against us.

As far as the building, it has to be at least $3000 with concrete floors, washable walls, and some kind of acceptable septic system. They take no responsibility for how that will affect the scale of production.

We had 19 piglets last year, and all 17 that we sold went to folks raising food for themselves. The thing is, they all bought at least two, with the expectation to keep one for their family while selling the other. These animals were all killed by itinerant slaughterers and taken to custom butcher shops.

There is no way that producers like this will build a killing room. If I built one for my own use, I cannot let those folks use mine, as then the animals are killed off-farm, and have to go through an inspected facility. Otherwise several of us could invest in such a structure, and maybe make it work.

To say “there seems to be a general lack of understanding of sanitation principles and dressing procedures among small farmers.” is just plain misrepresentation of fact. While probably easily swallowed by some of the general public, there is a growing number of folks who know this to be untrue, and they are more distrusting of industrial Ag than of their neighbors.

Randy is actually a pretty reasonable guy, but this is his opportunity to join the effort, and to tell you the truth, I think he is just going to go down swinging. He has been working too long in an agency that is stuck in the tar-pits of the expansion of industrial ag. A few generation from now we will find their fossilized remains and wonder how did they ever survive for as long as they did?

Carl

[PhilG]

In are part of the country we are blessed with very large Elk herds, hundreds of families in our county alone rely heavily on this good healthy lean meat source, and being the filthy hick that I am it gets hung in the garage for a week and then cut up on a clean piece of counter top and packaged (also in the garage) I have never heard of any sickness from anyone in almost 20 years and dozens of Elk, deer and antelope, when some one has extra it ends up in another families freezer and even the local food banks take it, what exactly is it that “they” are concerned with? Do barnyard animals have some mystical bacteria that wild animals do not? Should i be more worried than I am about the food I process? should I call in the meat inspector this fall to come inspect my garage so he can inspect my elk, pig and cow hanging there and give me a fine so he can get paid and not have to find a job that involves actual work?
This hole big brother- governmental extortion thing has bean really bumming me out lately, food inspectors, building inspectors, osha,insurance audits, tax inspectors….the list goes on and on of the time-money-energy that is so life sucking from our country these days. I think it needs to get to the point were a town or state for that mater can opt out of all the BS and and make its own non life sucking rules to live by.
Building = $90 SF around here IF you do most the work yourself

[Mike Rock]

Shoot, shovel and shut up!! That cures a wealth of ills.

:))

[near horse]

@goodcompanion 26504 wrote:

The State of Maine now has a response to those towns that passed the ordinance. You can read it:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1221/images/Whitcomb_Letter_Local_Food_Ordinance.pdf

I know it’s nit-picking but go to the bottom of the “official” letter from the Dept of Agriculture and check out their web address. Perhaps it shows their level of committment to supporting Maine agriculture when they can’t even spell it right in their web address on official letterhead! Doh! 😮 Should’ve stuck with “ag”.

Carl, I’m hearing “shovels and rakes and other implements of destruction”.

[Carl Russell]

near horse;26704 wrote:

….

Carl, I’m hearing “shovels and rakes and other implements of destruction”.

I don’t want a pickle…. I just want to ride my motorcicle,
And I don’t want to die…. I just want to ride my motorcy…cle…

Carl

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