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A RESOLUTION urging the New Hampshire congressional delegation to sponsor legislation relative to, and urging the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to adopt regulations, allowing for small scale and very small slaughter plants to use the Federal Meat Inspection Act's Custom Exempt meat processing inspection criteria with a third-party inspector present at slaughter, so that processed beef, pork, lamb, and chevron (goat meat) can be sold as individual cuts directly from the farm producer to the end consumer.

Whereas, New Hampshire has only 4 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved slaughter plants; and

Whereas, to ensure processing availability, farmers in the region must schedule a slaughter date at a USDA approved slaughter facility before their livestock are born; and

Whereas, supply chain issues we experienced as a nation during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of the existing concentration in the nation's meat processing industry when consumers found limited availability and even empty meat cases in stores; and

Whereas, a strong local food economy is vital to the nutritional needs and public health of the state's citizenry; and

Whereas, there is a desire for consumers to know where and how their food is grown and raised and to have the ability to speak with the farmer producing their food; and

Whereas, exemptions and flexibility are already provided for poultry in the Poultry Products Inspection Act and for non-amenable species (i.e., species not covered under the Federal Meat Inspection Act) such as bison, deer, elk, and rabbits; and

Whereas, the USDA's existing regulations enable the processing of the meat from amenable species in a state licensed facility where the animal has been slaughtered under USDA inspection; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the New Hampshire house of representatives urges our congressional delegation to sponsor legislation, and also urges the USDA to adopt regulations, allowing for small scale and very small slaughter plants to use the Federal Meat Inspection Act's Custom Exempt meat processing inspection criteria with a third-party inspector present at slaughter, so that processed beef, pork, lamb, and chevron (goat meat) can be sold as individual cuts directly from the farm producer to the end consumer.

Let it further be resolved that copies of this resolution, signed by the speaker of the house, be forwarded by the house clerk to each member of the New Hampshire congressional delegation, the secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the administrator of the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Five

A RESOLUTION urging the New Hampshire congressional delegation to sponsor legislation relative to, and urging the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to adopt regulations, allowing for small scale and very small slaughter plants to use the Federal Meat Inspection Act's Custom Exempt meat processing inspection criteria with a third-party inspector present at slaughter, so that processed beef, pork, lamb, and chevron (goat meat) can be sold as individual cuts directly from the farm producer to the end consumer.

Whereas, New Hampshire has only 4 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved slaughter plants; and

Whereas, to ensure processing availability, farmers in the region must schedule a slaughter date at a USDA approved slaughter facility before their livestock are born; and

Whereas, supply chain issues we experienced as a nation during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of the existing concentration in the nation's meat processing industry when consumers found limited availability and even empty meat cases in stores; and

Whereas, a strong local food economy is vital to the nutritional needs and public health of the state's citizenry; and

Whereas, there is a desire for consumers to know where and how their food is grown and raised and to have the ability to speak with the farmer producing their food; and

Whereas, exemptions and flexibility are already provided for poultry in the Poultry Products Inspection Act and for non-amenable species (i.e., species not covered under the Federal Meat Inspection Act) such as bison, deer, elk, and rabbits; and

Whereas, the USDA's existing regulations enable the processing of the meat from amenable species in a state licensed facility where the animal has been slaughtered under USDA inspection; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the New Hampshire house of representatives urges our congressional delegation to sponsor legislation, and also urges the USDA to adopt regulations, allowing for small scale and very small slaughter plants to use the Federal Meat Inspection Act's Custom Exempt meat processing inspection criteria with a third-party inspector present at slaughter, so that processed beef, pork, lamb, and chevron (goat meat) can be sold as individual cuts directly from the farm producer to the end consumer.

Let it further be resolved that copies of this resolution, signed by the speaker of the house, be forwarded by the house clerk to each member of the New Hampshire congressional delegation, the secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the administrator of the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service.