In 1967 Congress passed the Wholesome Meat Act, Public Law 90-201, amending the Federal Meat Inspection Act. The act expanded the federal government’s authority over meat slaughter and processing to intrastate commerce but did
Breakthrough on Custom Slaughter in Tennessee
In a breakthrough for the local food movement in Tennessee, the state Office of the Attorney General has issued an opinion holding that “there is no limit on the number of owners for whom a custom slaughterer may
Wisconsin DATCP Shuts Down Mobile Slaughter Business
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP, pronounced “dat-cap”) is commissioned by the state legislature to promote the interests of Wisconsin agriculture. With Congress’ repeal of
PRIME Act Introduced in the Senate
Washington, D.C.—March 9, 2016—Yesterday, Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the PRIME (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption) Act, lending Senate support for Representatives
Slaughterhouse Shortage in the U.S.
In 1967, at the time of the passage of the Wholesome Meat Act, there were nearly 10,000 slaughterhouses in the country. The table below from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) on the number of livestock slaughter plants (poultry plants are not included) shows how the local
Q & A on the PRIME Act with Joel Salatin
Who is hurt the most by the Federal Meat Inspection Act as it is now written? Is it the small farmer who has to travel hundreds of miles to the nearest USDA slaughterhouse?
The Wholesome Meat Act of 1967: Disaster for Small Slaughterhouses from the Start
Passage of the PRIME Act [H.R. 3187] would give states the power to legalize the sale of custom processed meat in intrastate commerce (i.e., meat from an animal slaughtered and processed at a facility where an inspector is not required to be present to observe the slaughtering and conduct an
Support H.R. 3187, the PRIME Act (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption)
White Paper on the PRIME Act [H.R. 3187] Prepared by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
House Resolution H.R. 3187, the Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act, would give individual states the freedom to pass laws allowing the sale of custom
PRIME Act Alert with Preamble by Joel Salatin
As anyone who follows Polyface knows, we are extremely judicious—some would even say miserly—about forwarding things or urging people to act on policy options wending their way through the halls of Congress. We generally stick to broad issues and assume you’ll act properly on things when you hear about them. Here is an exception
Joel Salatin on Meat Processing and the PRIME Act
For consumers unfamiliar with the vagaries of abattoir licensing, the difference between “inspected” and “custom” can sound like a foreign language. Why wouldn’t you say “inspected” and “uninspected?” To anyone looking at options, that seems like something you can