The purpose of this website is to act as a portal for information and feedback about the Proposal for bringing a Mobile Processing Unit to to the specialty niche market meat producers in Georgia.
Benefits of MPU for producers, animals and consumers-
Grass-fed and Organic meat producers typically raise their animals in a way that values the health of the animals, consumers and the environment more than the average industrial meat production systems in this country. The proposed mobile unit would extend that same reverence to the processing part of the meat production cycle. The PMPUG product would be "Certified Humane", a value-added label created by a team of animal scientists, veterinarians, and animal welfare agents and largely based upon the studies of renown animal scientist Temple Grandin. In today's growing resistance to the irreverent practices of the industrial meat production system in the United States, this Value Added label will offer a much more filling alternative than becoming a vegetarian! (I know I look forward to it!)
USDA certified and no travel time- There are a lack of USDA certified processing plants in GA. This lack can potentially pressure farmers into driving their animals many hours to the nearest certified plant, causing unnecessary stress on the animals and in turn effecting the quality of the meat. If the USDA approves the grant for this project they will be required to provide a USDA inspector on board the MPU as they do in other states.
Example of Mobile Processing Units in other states-
www.lopezclt.org/sard/mpu.html
Current Status of Proposal
Kent Wolf at the University of Georgia's center for Agribusiness and Economic Development worked with Audrey Luke-Morgan to create this feasibility study for the project. (pdf) At the time of the study (March 2008) the bringing a Humane Mobile Processing unit to GA proved infeasible. The author of this page has her fingers crossed that this will change soon.
Qualities of Humane processing-
the secret to humane slaughter is:
- keeping the animal's stress level to a minimum. The ideal death is one of casual submission. For an example of this watch the scene with the goat lady in the movie "Cold Mountain."
What you would need on the farm-
An area to compost the offal- using all the parts of the animal and letting the rest recycle back into nature.
A concrete floor area with a Squeeze chute (as developed by Temple Grandin) or other chute that the caws regularly pass through and are comfortable with.
HALLAL SLAUGHTER-
KOSCHER SLAUGHTER-
WHICH IS THE MOST HUMANE SLAUGHTER? (Eve Sibley is still seeking the answer to this one, in the meantime practicing vegetariansim.)