Right now, Santa Barbara Livestock can travel as far as Yosemite Valley for processing. This creates a large carbon footprint, relies on out-of-county resources for processing, and undermines a closed loop food system. Our local meat processing initiative is filling a crucial need, giving ranchers access to an in-county processing facility, creating jobs, and providing connections to institutional procurement opportunities.
This survey captures just a preliminary “snapshot” of demand in the region. Most excitingly though, even with our small sample size (n=46), the data we have gathered suggests that demand is quite strong; strong enough to justify and support at least one small- to moderately-sized meat processing facility in the region.”
— Meat Processing Survey Report, 9/22
A TIMELINE OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS SO FAR
- SBCFAN launches Meat Processing Working Group launches – Aug 2021.
- UCANR and SBCFAN partner to conduct survey to prove demand and capacity – 2022.
- SBCFAN explored the feasibility of accessing a mobile harvesting unit and identifying possible underutilized existing meat processing infrastructure in the county – 2022
- SBCFAN was approached with a proposal to enter into a nonprofit-government partnership to launch a USDA certified meat processing facility – 2022.
- Phase 1 funded and implemented in 2023, including:
- initial facility assessment, secured endorsements from several county, state, and federal representatives;
- Advocated to D.C. staffers to adopt a national vocational training credential for meat processing;
- Initial business plan created
- Worked with Vocational Training Education Department to outline initial training timeline
- Phase 2 funded and portion of tasks completed in 2024, including:
- Larger adjacent facility secured for processing facility;
- Second site visit completed;
- Offsite drop/pick site identified;
- Remainder of Phase 2 and Phase 3 to be completed in 2025.
- Launch scheduled for 2026!
KEY METRICS
53%
I am more interested in selling meat as individual cuts to customers
47%
I am most interested in consuming the animal myself or selling to customers who purchase the whole or part of the animal ahead of slaughter
2100
pounds of CO2 emissions per trip to be offset*
*Approximate estimation given a full truck of mature beef cattle outbound and a refrigerated truck full of processed meat on the return trip. Not included are emissions of other greenhouse gases, such as methane or HFCs. Calculated using carboncare.org and sifted.com.
