'Backyard farmer' wants change in Vt. slaughter law
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By Mel Huff Times Argus Staff - Published: December 27, 2007
CALAIS – For years Peter Harvey, who calls himself a "backyard farmer," had been talking about buying some piglets, raising them, using some of the meat for his family and selling some of it locally. Two summers ago he and a neighbor decided to follow through on the plan and bought three pigs.
They fed the pigs Vermont-raised grain and cheese scraps from the Cabot Creamery, and when the fateful day arrived, had a custom slaughterer come to Harvey's farm to kill the pigs. Then they put the sides in plastic bags and took them to the New England Culinary Institute for students to practice butchering.
"It was a good deal for everybody to have less expensive meat, and to have it raised right at home where we knew what (was going into it)," said Harvey.
It was also illegal.
Shortly afterwards, an inspector came through NECI's kitchen, saw the meat and confiscated it. He later returned the meat but told Harvey it couldn't be sold because the pigs hadn't been slaughtered and processed according to government inspection rules. Since he and his partner couldn't eat three pigs, they returned their neighbors' checks and gave them the meat.
Last summer Harvey had another go at pig-raising, buying two pigs jointly with three other families. The families modeled the venture on Community Supported Agriculture principles: They all owned the pigs from the outset. But again this year, Harvey took a loss on the pigs. While the families split the costs equally, Harvey said he did most of the labor and had no means of getting reimbursed for it.
Harvey's experience converted him into a standard-bearer for the rights of Vermonters to raise meat for local consumption and of consumers to buy locally raised meat. He took on the role, he said, because he doesn't make his living at raising animals and can afford to stick his neck out.
The rules on slaughtering and inspecting meat were created nearly a century ago in response to the abuses in the meat-packing industry described in Upton Sinclair's novel "The Jungle." But the federal regulations are administered by the states, and not all states interpret the regulations in the same way. In Maine, for example, what Harvey wants to do is legal.
Amy Schollenberger, the director of Rural Vermont, says her organization disagrees with the Agency of Agriculture's interpretation of its rules.
As Schollenberger explains the issue, the law says that if you own an animal and want to slaughter it to sell the meat, it has to be killed and butchered in an "inspected facility."
On the other hand, if you own an animal and want to get it killed and processed for your own use, you can take it to a "custom facility." (An "inspected facility" has an inspector present during slaughtering and processing. A "custom facility," one where people take deer to be dressed, has been inspected, but no inspector is there when animals are processed.
People raising a pig for their own use can have the animal killed on the farm and take it to a custom facility to get it cut up, she said. They just have to sign a paper saying that the meat will be consumed only by themselves, their immediate family and non-paying guests. The meat will come back in packages stamped "Not for Sale."
On the other hand, for as long as anyone can remember, she observed, people have been buying animals "on the hoof" and filling out the custom processor's form while a farmer raised the animals and transported them to the processor. Now, Schollenberger said, staff at the Agency of Agriculture is holding that the practice is illegal.
"If I buy the pig from Peter, I have to be the one that takes it to the custom processor," she said, observing that this is an impractical requirement for many urbanites.
"We think buying an animal on the hoof is legal based on reading the agency's rule," Schollenberger declared. She noted that Maine makes it possible for farmers like Harvey to raise a small number of animals and sell the meat: It regulates the activity as a CSA.
In Maine, buyers sign a form saying they bought a pig, or share of a pig, when the animal was alive, know it will be processed in a custom facility and affirm they will not resell the meat. When they get the packages, they will be labeled, "Not for Sale." Meanwhile, the farmer can raise the pig and truck it to the processor, Schollenberger explained
Schollenberger doesn't question the intentions of the Agency of Agriculture's staff.
"They told me horror stories," she said. "I understand where they're coming from. At the same time, I think it's time to reassess what we need, because there's a growing market of people who want to buy from people they know. It's a way for farmers in Vermont to get a fair price, it's a better ecological system and it allows farmers to diversity."
As a result of Harvey's pig-raising ventures, legislation will be introduced in January to permit and regulate such activity. Harvey's neighbor, Rep. Janet Ancel, who represents Calais, Marshfield and Plainfield, is working on a bill to permit CSAs to raise and slaughter hoofed animals for the local production of meat.
Ancel said she was happy to support the bill.
"For me, a lot of this has to do with thinking about the food we eat and where it's been and how it's raised. I think the whole local food movement is a really important one," she said. "There are many of us who want to know where our food comes from and whether it's organic – that is doesn't have chemicals. For people who do eat meat, a number of people want to know that the meat that they eat has been raised humanely and slaughtered humanely."
She added that growing food for local markets "fits in with the need for diversification in Vermont agriculture, the fact that we can no longer depend on dairy (for) the bulk of our agricultural business."
Kelly Loftus, the public information officer for the Agency of Agriculture, said the agency hasn't seen the details of the proposal yet, but, "We're always interested in working with groups that want to advance Vermont agriculture. Once we're more familiar with what is being proposed, we'll have a better idea of how we would like to move forward."
Schollenberger believes the legislation is needed to meet new realities. She said, "I think it's time to look at our policies and say, 'Times are changing,' and to ask, 'How can we make sure we're building a local food system and keeping high policy standards?'"
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