Small Scale Meat

I haven’t been a farmer for very long but in the 5 or 6 years that I have been working in this business, there is one thing that almost every small-scale meat producer has in common. We’re almost all having a heck of a time finding reliable, affordable good quality meat processing. You might be able to find one of these qualities. If you’re lucky, you might even be two for two occasionally. But hitting all three of these requirements is the stuff of fairy tales.

More and more abattoirs are closing their doors to small-scale producers. Some are closing their doors for good. Consumer demand for higher welfare, sustainable meat is growing but when BC farmers & ranchers scale up their businesses to meet demand, they are faced with a bottleneck at the abattoir.

This has been my personal experience and the experience of virtually every farmer/rancher I know. In the fall of 2017, I found myself selling off our herd because I knew there was no way I was going to be able to book as many animals as we had raised in at our local abattoir. It was then that we faced the grim reality that there is no room for our business to grow within the current framework. I decided to scale back our family farm and focus my efforts on bringing together like-minded producers to see if together, we can get this industry working better for us.

I started a Facebook group and the next thing I knew we had an active group of almost 60 members. I reached out to the group for help taking the group to the next level and pretty soon we had the beginnings of a board and some great momentum. Together, we began reaching out to key players in the industry including the Ministry of Agriculture and the BC Abattoirs Association and established some great contacts.

JWe were thrust into high gear this month when the Ministry of Agriculture suddenly announced that they were undertaking a consultation process with regards to Class D & E licensing. So the past few weeks have been a flurry of activity as we hurry to get our legal paperwork and governance structure squared away while frantically trying to reach out to as many producers as possible to ensure maximum participation in the upcoming survey.

So we have certainly hit the ground running and are excited to be moving forward. It is high time small-scale meat producers in British Columbia had a real voice. But we can’t do this without YOU! Please join us. Visit our membership page for more information about how you can get involved and ensure that your voice is heard.

Julia Smith, President
Small-Scale Meat Producers Association

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead