London Cowgirl

Livestock is essential to any sustainable farming systems. In particular cattle provide vital eco services: on arable farms, on permanent pastures and in habitat preservation. They are also central to food production, farm income, and to rural economies. To save the planet, we indeed have to dramatically reduce the consumption of meat produced through industrial agricultural, while continuing to eat meat from animals that spent their lives on well-managed grasslands, grazing herballeys and cover crops. For farmers, the welfare of their animals will be the top priority, and that means providing for a good life and, at its end, humane slaughter. In the UK, as in most other western countries, small abattoirs have been closing in record numbers, a development that has a huge negative impact on animal welfare, on farm profitability and the rural economy. This book explores alternatives: A new EU framework allows farmers to kill animals in the most humane way possible, on farm and within the herd. Providing custom slaughter services through small abattoirs or mobile slaughter units provides opportunities for independent butchers, farmer coops and rural communities. And in the US, farmers, butchers, educators and chefs are developing a local, profitable meat processing network.