Meat Continued from Page 1
posed to the plant is appealing the deci- sion,withahearingset for later thismonth. “It’soneof thosenot-in-my-backyardsitu- ations,” Sinclair said. She had tried for years to open a facility in California but could not find a suitable piece of property. She looked to Nevada in recent years, initially wanting to set up shop at an old dairy south of the current proposed location. She had faced similar opposition from some residents, and the county eventually rejected her plan. She
said she’s now trying to turn the dairy into an operating ranch as she works through her “legal battle inCarsonCity.” StephenHohenrieder, CEO and found- er of Grounded Capital Partners inMarin County, which invests in food companies that can potentially influence how food is produced, said he thinks the catalyst for the current movement started before the pandemicaspeoplebegantoputmoreval- ue on foodwith attributes of “authenticity, traceability, transparencyandconnections.”
“I believe that people are reconnecting with the source of their food,” he said. He’s supportiveof producer efforts such asBAR-C,whichhesaidwill createnot just anewavenue for ranchers toprocess their animals but amore resilient food system. “The demand is there,” he said. “The ranchers need it andwant it, and the con- sumer wants it. It’s just amatter ofmaking it happen.” (ChingLeeisanassistanteditorofAgAlert. Shemaybe contactedat clee@cfbf.com.)
labels. This left ranchers in the regionwith fewer choices of where to take their ani- mals, forcing them to drive long distances as they face increasing difficulty compet- ing for slots at the slaughterhouse. Their problem is far from unique. Consolidationhas led to largermeatpack- ersand fewerof themleft inthenation. But nowthemomentumforchangehaspicked up,withlegislatorsandpolicymakershear- ing from everyday people, said Michael Dimock, president of the Oakland-based nonprofit Roots of Change. “They’ve been hearing it fromproduc- ers for years, but producers are such ami- nority in our country,” he said. “Now we are hearing from the general public and the smaller producers, and the politicians are responding.” Dimock is the lead author of a recent study by theUniversity of California, Davis, Food Systems Lab that examined the chal- lengesandopportunitiesofmeatprocessing inCalifornia.Hesaidnotonlyisgovernment “pumping tonsofmoney” togetmoremeat processing facilities started, but regulations also are beginning to change to alleviate someof themeat processingbottlenecks. A case in point is the recent passage of Assembly Bill 888, which California Farm Bureau sponsored. Signed into law in September, the legislationallows ranchers to usemobile operations that are exempt from federal inspections to slaughter any number of cattle, sheep, goats and swine on their farms. Themeat isnot for saleand can go only to the buyer of the animal. Formeat toenter commerce, theanimal must be slaughtered at a plant or mobile operation that’s federally inspected—such as the ones run by Fagundes andBAR-C. Withpassageof AB888, Dimock saidhe hopes there will be expansions of existing federally exempt mobile slaughter oper- ations—or new ones started—to handle a potential surge in requests for such ser- vices when the law takes effect in January. But it may take two to three years “to see real impact,” he added. David Dewey, owner of Chico Locker and Sausage Co. and president of the CaliforniaAssociationofMeat Processors, said the legislationcameaboutwhen large retail chains and warehouses began run- ning out of meat andmore people turned to buying directly from farms. His busi- ness, which provides on-farm slaughter andprocessing, saw“bigdemand,”hesaid. WithAB888, insteadof taking their live- stock to the sale yard or feedlots, ranchers could sell directly to their customers and sidestep large packers, he said. “It gives them another option for sale, and it’s going to cause a little bit of com- petition for the animals,” Dewey said. “Competition is always good.” Placer County rancher Karin Sinclair said she thinks the pandemic has opened people’s eyes to the challenges that ranch- ers face trying to get their animals slaugh- tered and processed, “but I don’t think it’s opened themwide enough.” Herproposedslaughterhouse inCarson City, Nevada, has been approved by the cityplanningcommission. But agroupop-
Always Call BeforeYou Dig.
One easy call gets your utility lines marked and helps protect you from injury and expense. Safe Digging Is No Accident: Always Call 811 Before You Dig
Visit call811.com for more information.
November 3, 2021 Ag Alert 15
Powered by FlippingBook