Dear Friend,
Thank you to those who responded to the previous alerts already and contacted your U.S. representatives to encourage sponsorship of the PRIME (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption) Act. Please know that your calls and emails made a difference, and now we need your help to encourage more U.S. Senators to support the bill. The House is now up to 53 cosponsors for the PRIME Act (HR 2814 / S.907) and the chances of the PRIME Act being included in the Farm Bill continue to increase.
The PRIME Act [House Resolution 2814 (H.R. 2814) and Senate Bill 907 (S.907)], would provide necessary legislation that would allow states to pass laws legalizing the sale of custom slaughtered and processed meat in intrastate commerce. While it has been before Congress previously, this time there is a greater chance of passing it into law. This time, the PRIME Act could pass into law as part of the Farm Bill rather than as stand-alone legislation.
It’s important that you contact your two U.S. senators if they have not already signed onto the PRIME Act as cosponsors, even if you've contacted them before on this issue. To assure inclusion in the Farm Bill, S.907 needs as many cosponsors as possible. Your participation can make that happen.
See action steps below and please share this alert with others.
TAKE ACTION
Call and/or email both your U.S. Senators and ask them to sign onto S907, if they have not already done so (click HERE to see list of cosponsors).
Calls are more effective than emails.
You can look up who represents you at www.congress.gov (by using the “Contact Your Member” box on the right) or call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
TALKING POINTS
1. Passage of the PRIME Act would better enable farmers to meet booming demand for locally produced meat. Consumers want to purchase local food directly from their local farms, yet in parts of the country, farmers have to book a slaughterhouse slot as much as 1-1/2 to 2 years out. Custom slaughterhouses represent a smarter, scale-sensitive approach to regulation. They must meet federal and state standards, but without some of the aspects that are unduly expensive and burdensome for small-scale operations. A typical custom slaughterhouse processes fewer animals in an entire year than a typical large plant does in a single day. Custom slaughterhouses have shown that scale-sensitive regulations work well—the USDA has no records of any foodborne illness traced to any custom slaughterhouse since 2012.
2. Meat Processing at Custom Slaughter Facilities is safe. The difference between a USDA or State facility and a custom facility is the presence of an inspector at every slaughter. Custom Slaughter facilities are regulated and required to meet sanitation and animal welfare standards but not required to have an inspector at every slaughter. The USDA’s response to a FOIA request shows that there were no foodborne illnesses attributed to Custom Slaughter facilities from 2012 to 2020.
3. Passage of the PRIME Act would improve food security. Supply chain breakdowns and labor shortages have made the food supply more vulnerable as a result of just 12 plants processing 49% of the cattle slaughtered and 14 plants for 59% of the hogs slaughtered in 2022. Passage of the PRIME Act would improve food security by increasing the local supply of quality meat, food that for most of us is critical for a healthy diet.
4. Passage of the PRIME Act would not be competition to the conventional meat industry; the meatpacker and small farms have mostly different markets. One sells mainly into the export market and big supermarket chains; the other sells into local communities direct to consumers and small mom-and-pop stores.
5. Passage of the PRIME Act would keep more of the food dollar in the state and community. The big food corporations send much of the money they earn out of the state; more of the money that local farmers, ranchers and custom house operators earn would circulate within the state and community, strengthening the local economy.
6. The PRIME Act would create jobs. More custom slaughterhouse operations would start up if meat from those facilities could be sold by the cut. Many of the people who would be starting up a custom operation are not interested in operating a federally inspected slaughterhouse; both expenses and red tape are much greater for the latter.
7. The PRIME Act would improve animal welfare; most farmers would not have to transport their animals as great a distance if they could take them to a custom house. This would result in less potential for injury. Animals overall are treated more humanely in custom facilities than in USDA facilities, in many of which thousands of animals are slaughtered and processed per day.
8. Passage of the PRIME Act would benefit the environment by reducing the carbon footprint in the transport of animals to slaughterhouses. The majority of farmers live closer to a custom slaughterhouse than to an inspected facility.
BACKGROUND INFO
Current law provides that the sale of meat is legal only if the animal is slaughtered and processed at a USDA or State inspection facility. This means only that an inspector is present when slaughtering or processing takes place, but again, custom slaughter facilities are still regulated by federal law and must meet certain sanitation requirements and treat the animals humanely.
Custom slaughter and processing facilities do not require that an inspector be present, but only the owners of the animals are allowed to receive the meat slaughtered and processed at custom houses. The sale of custom meat is illegal. The PRIME Act would lift the federal ban on the sale of custom meat. Custom facilities would still be subject to federal and state regulations, including inspection; however, inspectors would no longer have to be on site at custom facilities during slaughtering and processing of animals for meat sales to be legal in intrastate commerce.
LINKS
Thank you for taking action! Just a few minutes of your time truly makes a difference as we work to change the food system to support small farmers.
In good health,
Alexia Kulwiec
Executive Director
