Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP)

Pasture, Process, Plenty: Solutions for Local Meat Processing

The pandemic amplified a number of pre‐existing conditions in our food systems and supply chains. Vertical integration and consolidation are problems throughout our economy, and no sector exemplifies this more than the meat industry.

It is urgent that we identify and implement solutions that preserve existing local and regional meat processing capacity and create options for producers and consumers. These solutions need to be robust, resilient, and creative. They need to be decentralized. They need to ensure access, enable market opportunities, and provide living wage jobs. They need to serve the interests of all the stakeholders in a fair and equitable manner.

The goal of this project is to identify and design a solution, at a regional scale, that meets all these objectives:

• Objective 1: Study and identify efficiencies in scheduling, animal units, mobile slaughter, processing, and distribution in more localized, regenerative meat production.
• Objective 2: Identify viable business models for collective effort around local processing that results in fair labor and rural economic development
• Objective 3: Create a business plan for a small meat processing supply chain that is fundable and upholds the values of equity, fairness, and climate benefit.

More info coming soon!

For more information about this project, contact Thomas Manley, thomas.manley@marbleseed.org or 888-906-6737 ext. 704

Funding for Pasture, Process Plenty was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant AM22LFPPWI1126. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.