The Vermont landscape is abundant with farmers supplying their communities with locally raised,
slaughtered and processed meats. For generations Vermonters have relied upon friends and
neighbors for their meat supply, however as the industrialized food system has grown larger, rules
have been crafted to “protect” the public from potential dangers. These rules have weakened the
Vermont meat slaughter and processing infrastructure and made it challenging for Vermont farmers
to comply with these industrial scale regulations without making significant capital investments and
going into debt. Rural Vermont believes that having community scale-appropriate regulations will
help grow the market for farm fresh meat while simultaneously protecting our food supply and
enabling farmers to continue Vermont’s cultural heritage.
