[ti:Slaughterhouses on Wheels Come to the Aid of Small Farms] [ar:Bob Doughty] [al:Agriculture Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.26]Agriculture Report. [00:05.07]One of the great American [00:07.50]success stories [00:09.25]after World War Two [00:11.18]was the rise [00:12.49]of industrial farming. [00:14.17]But now small is big. [00:17.84]People who say they worry [00:20.20]about their food [00:21.45]and their environment [00:22.94]are looking for locally [00:25.12]grown produce from small farms. [00:27.73]Local meat producers [00:30.09]want a piece of the action. [00:31.77]But small farmers often [00:34.45]have a difficult time [00:36.37]getting their animals to market. [00:38.61]Many cannot pay the cost of [00:41.16]a large slaughterhouse. [00:43.47]Also, the number of slaughterhouses [00:46.64]in the United States [00:48.50]has decreased sharply [00:50.37]since the nineteen eighties. [00:52.98]Some small farmers have [00:56.03]to travel long distances [00:58.08]to have their animals [00:59.95]killed and processed. [01:02.31]But now if a farmer cannot [01:05.74]get to the slaughterhouse, [01:07.23]the slaughterhouse may [01:09.53]come to the farmer. [01:11.02]The United States Department [01:13.70]of Agriculture, the USDA, [01:16.62]is helping farmers to pay for [01:19.48]and operate mobile [01:22.09]slaughter units. [01:23.34]These are trucks [01:25.20]and trailers equipped [01:27.51]to do the job, [01:28.44]including inspection. [01:30.43]A federal inspector [01:32.55]travels with the unit. [01:34.29]Last September the USDA [01:37.52]announced a sixty-five million [01:40.01]dollar program called [01:42.25]"Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food." [01:45.98]The aim is to support [01:48.53]local farmers, rural communities [01:51.77]and healthy eating. [01:53.94]As part of that effort, [01:56.37]officials are trying [01:58.30]to spread the word [01:59.92]about mobile slaughter units. [02:02.96]Ten years ago, in Washington State, [02:07.19]fifteen farmers raising sheep [02:10.18]and other livestock [02:11.86]formed a cooperative. [02:14.28]Their group, the Island [02:17.33]Grown Farmers Cooperative, [02:19.82]wanted to build a traditional [02:21.94]slaughterhouse. [02:23.37]But neighbors objected. [02:25.30]So the farmers designed [02:27.66]a slaughterhouse on wheels. [02:29.77]The Department of Agriculture [02:32.26]approved the first mobile [02:35.18]slaughter unit in two thousand two. [02:38.54]There are now forty-four farmers [02:41.84]in that cooperative. [02:43.83]And mobile units are being used [02:46.88]around the country not just [02:50.42]for sheep and cattle. [02:52.42]A group in Alaska uses [02:55.65]a mobile slaughterhouse for reindeer. [02:58.82]And an organization in South Dakota [03:03.05]has a mobile unit for buffalo. [03:05.23]The United States has [03:08.53]a limited number [03:10.14]of federal meat inspectors. [03:12.13]Some farm co-ops operate [03:16.05]with state inspectors. [03:17.98]But red meat and meat that will [03:21.09]be sold in other states [03:22.65]must have federal inspection. [03:25.94]Right now, officials say [03:29.05]nine groups are operating [03:31.23]federally approved mobile units. [03:34.22]They say these slaughterhouses [03:37.14]on wheels are not only a way [03:39.94]to build local food systems, [03:41.93]but also to help local economies. [03:45.97]And that's the VOA Special English [03:49.77]Agriculture Report, [03:51.51]written by Jerilyn Watson. [03:53.44]I'm Bob Doughty.