State-Inspected Meat Now Allowed to be Sold Out of State

The Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets just shared today that Vermont reached an agreement with the USDA to allow for state-inspected meat to be sold out of state. This means that state-inspected slaughter facilities will be able to process animals from USDA inspected facilities. State inspected slaughter facilities can apply to become part of the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program, contact Katherine McNamara (AAFM, 802-828-2426 | Katherine.McNamera@vermont.gov).

Hopefully, this improvement holds some potential to mitigate some of the pressing demand for slaughter facilities in the state. Rural Vermont believes that growing markets will not solve the lack of sovereignty in our food supply chain, like the right to slaughter livestock on farms and the farmers' right to perform that slaughter. Contact caroline@ruralvermont.org if you want to learn more about our On-Farm Slaughter campaign.