A Slaughterhouse on Wheels

Around the state, from La Grande to Medford, in the Gorge and along the Coast, meat producers are having trouble getting their products into farmers markets, restaurants and grocery stores. The problem is with the meat processing options in Oregon. Under U.S. law, meat can only be sold for retail if it has been processed under United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection. The consolidation of our food system has resulted in fewer but larger processing plants, leaving only a handful of USDA-inspected facilities in our state. This means that many of our farmers and ranchers are traveling over 100 miles each way to get their meat processed in a manner that will allow them to see their products to their local retail market.

A hog farmer in Washington, under similar circumstances, has decided to change all of this in order to give himself, and his fellow farmers great access to local markets. Bruce Dunlop has developed the first mobile slaughter-unit that is USDA certified in Washington state. Read more about this farmer and his great idea…