Another first for us this month was a visit from the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service. Small producer-growers like us are not required to have a government inspector present when we process chicken. However, we ARE required to abide by all the food safety requirements of the law–and the government can theoretically drop in whenever they want to see if we are doing it right. Normally for an operation as small as we are, that theoretical possibility is remote. However, mobile processing units like ours have been popping up around the country, and the USDA is curious and concerned to learn more about them. For our part, we have been bragging about our training, our planning, our testing, and our documentation. So the USDA decided to see how we like the taste of a little scrutiny.
Craig was understandably nervous about the visit—as was our food safety consultant Ellen Weist (herself an ex-military meat inspector). Those USDA guys don’t smile or chat very much. But we did get a one-word report card before they left: “Phenomenal.” Afterward, Craig had to sit down, and we made him breathe into a paper bag.
Might be more useful for USDA to clean their own house, if you will. Seems that they can’t even enforce the laws against the big pork plants, this came out a few months back:
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2013/05/usda-inspector-general-rebukes-hog-slaughter-conditions
I’m not worried about SN Grass Fed Beef. I can (and have) visited the conditions in person of how the animals are being raised and I know that Steve puts his reputation on the line. Not so in the Meat Industrial Complex.
Looking forward to my next pig in the fall, we’re all out of bacon!
-Greg Smith
Pelham NH
Congrats!
What comes from your Farm is exceptional! After watching the documentary Food Inc. it’s only organic and humanely raised for us. Glad to have you as a neighbor.
Well done you guys. I knew the meat tasted great, but to pass a drop-in test like that……outstanding!
Woohoo!!
YAY! And I want some of those chickens in my freezer! Nice work–once again.
Way to Go!