North Coast Meat Processing Collaborative
Home to hundreds of small scale, regenerative and organic ranches, the North Coast leads the state in responsible animal husbandry practices. As opposed to CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations), which are main contributors to food system based greenhouse emissions, the grass fed beef that is raised locally plays a key role in sequestering carbon, protecting biodiversity of grasslands, and provides high quality, healthy protein for our community.
In 2024 the region's only meat processor, Redwood Meat Company, announced its restructuring, impacting meat producers throughout the whole region. This has led to higher costs for local meat products due to the cost of transporting animals to processors at least 250 miles away and transporting the meat back into the region. The extended drive time puts additional, undue stress on animals, prevents small scale meat producers from having a cost effective method for processing meat, and has led to less meat being available for the community.
"Middle of the supply chain" activities, like processing, are often invisible to the end user (other activities include the storage, like NCGA's Farm to Freezer project, ordering, and distribution of food). In recent years the local food movement has brought farms and ranches into the spotlight, showing customers that the way food is grown and raised effects the health of our bodies and the environment, and also how the way we spend our food dollars can impact our community. However, middle of the supply chain activities are some of the most critical steps between the farm and the eater. Meat processing takes a whole animal and breaks it into cuts and portions that individuals and wholesale buyers can use. Without a local processor to help make local protein readily available to customers, localized food systems are unable to thrive and fully support our community.
Currently, meat producers aren't able to make stable business decisions for their ranches. The increased transportation costs and barriers has forced producers to scale down their herds or, in some cases, completely eliminate raising animals for resale. Other ranches have limited options for available beef cuts and have difficulty with limited availability between harvesting dates.
This trickles down to the customers. Wholesale buyers like Food for People and K-12 schools, who try to prioritize locally raised beef in their menus, need to stretch limited budgets and often need to provide less local meat options.
In 2024 the region's only meat processor, Redwood Meat Company, announced its restructuring, impacting meat producers throughout the whole region. This has led to higher costs for local meat products due to the cost of transporting animals to processors at least 250 miles away and transporting the meat back into the region. The extended drive time puts additional, undue stress on animals, prevents small scale meat producers from having a cost effective method for processing meat, and has led to less meat being available for the community.
"Middle of the supply chain" activities, like processing, are often invisible to the end user (other activities include the storage, like NCGA's Farm to Freezer project, ordering, and distribution of food). In recent years the local food movement has brought farms and ranches into the spotlight, showing customers that the way food is grown and raised effects the health of our bodies and the environment, and also how the way we spend our food dollars can impact our community. However, middle of the supply chain activities are some of the most critical steps between the farm and the eater. Meat processing takes a whole animal and breaks it into cuts and portions that individuals and wholesale buyers can use. Without a local processor to help make local protein readily available to customers, localized food systems are unable to thrive and fully support our community.
Currently, meat producers aren't able to make stable business decisions for their ranches. The increased transportation costs and barriers has forced producers to scale down their herds or, in some cases, completely eliminate raising animals for resale. Other ranches have limited options for available beef cuts and have difficulty with limited availability between harvesting dates.
This trickles down to the customers. Wholesale buyers like Food for People and K-12 schools, who try to prioritize locally raised beef in their menus, need to stretch limited budgets and often need to provide less local meat options.
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Cal Poly Capstone students engaged in a storytelling project to share the impacts of the closure of Redwood Meats CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE STORY MAP "Shaped by several dozen small farms and supported by thousands of dedicated customers, the North Coast is known for its vibrant local food system" |
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North Coast Food System Network :
Studying the Needs of Meat Producers on the North Coast
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NCGA is working collaboratively with meat producers across the region to plan for the future of meat processing on the North Coast. Using funding from CA Jobs First Catalyst Fund and the Headwaters Fund, Scheer Associates is leading this study to collect data around current and projected needs for meat processing, identifying gaps and barriers producers face, and outlining a sustainable pathway forward to support the needs of our local food system. The goal of this project is to clearly define the regional landscape of current and future meat production, outline the structural and permitting needs for a facility, identify a potential operator and business structure, and create a business plan for the new entity. |