General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf the big meat processing plants get shut down do we have the capacity to use local farmers,
Last edited Sun Apr 19, 2020, 02:39 PM - Edit history (1)
local meat processing plants and butchers to take their place? I know that most big chain stores
no longer have in house butchers but can we just bypass the big plants?
frazzled
(18,402 posts)Im not divulging my source for locally raised meats and poultry.
Botany
(70,501 posts)... know if they will be able to keep up with the demand and I always looked forward to
the Saturday Morning local farmers market for fresh meat, dairy, and produce but it will
not be opening back up anytime soon.
keithbvadu2
(36,787 posts)Our society/culture depends on industrial food.
Fresh does not have the capacity.
sarisataka
(18,632 posts)While there is a small amount of local meat processing, the supply chain is set up to use the processing plants.
Think of it as if the animals were auto parts, the process plants are the assembly factories and the grocery stores represent car dealers. If the factories shut down, it would still be possible to supply the dealerships by sending parts to local repair shops to assemble autos. It would be slower, inefficient and work at a fraction of the lost capacity.
Solly Mack
(90,764 posts)and process for hunters as well as locally owned livestock.
You can buy eggs and chickens, as well as lamb/sheep/goat, cow, and pig direct from the breeders. Take them to the locally owned butchers and then to your freezer.
No USDA hanging out though the butchers get certified to inspect the meat. They get inspected as a business every year as well. The meat isn't for resale at the butchers. You buy from the breeder and take the animal to the butcher. You pay the butcher to do their thing and then you haul all that meat home.
Not sure if that kind of arrangement would work in larger cities, but we do bypass the big plants by using local breeders and butchers.
I primarily eat plant-based but I am familiar with how it works here. Neighbors, friends sing their praises because they say they save a lot of money buying from breeders and using the local butchers instead of buying at the grocery store.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)But the vast majority of people would have no idea how to handle a live food animal, and a lot of their kids would want to make it a pet on first sight. I know they get criticized lots here on DU, but largescale slaughter houses do perform a function that society in general can't. Similar dynamics apply to vegetable, nut and fruit farming, the big operations simply are what feeds 99% of people.
Girard442
(6,070 posts)Slaughtering animals is a fairly skilled job. You just can't slice off the parts of a cow that look tasty.
Chainfire
(17,536 posts)Local farmers do not have that ability. It would be like asking your local car mechanic if he could build 500 cars this week.
beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)EarthFirst
(2,900 posts)Im fact I would be inclined to believe that theyd hoard that stock for themselves or immediate family or social networks.
The majority of these farmers have been GOP for generations.
Helping their community is only feel good PR and optics.
If it came down to a halt in domestic supply; theyre hoarding this shit for themselves.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Local farms are a nitch area that simply is not capable of feeding a modern city or big town.
TeamPooka
(24,223 posts)milestogo
(16,829 posts)Actually, I think there are ways to buy meat from local farmers, but there won't be near enough to replace whats missing from the grocery stores.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)big operations. Yes, a person may be able to buy true organic, relatively local produce in a health food store or co-op, but the amount of food running through those places won't be remotely enough to feed a city or town.
Celerity
(43,333 posts)food trucks, just like they are doing with PPE's.
totodeinhere
(13,058 posts)Many environmentalists maintain that we in the USA eat far too much meat and the meat industry is a big contributor to global warming.