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PREVIOUS PROGRAMS

Slaughter House Tour & Meat Quality Workshop for Farmers, Butchers, Chefs & Food Processors

Offered twice - 20-person limit.

Sat, March 12, 2005, 10 am to 2 pm, and Sat, March 19, 2005, 10 am to 2 pm, at Over the Hill Farm Benson, VT, Owned & Operated by the Wing Family

$75 members - $90 for non-members: Includes catered lunch.

John Wing and his family operate a state-of-the-art USDA inspected certified organic slaughter house facility and retail meat shop on their farm in Benson, Vermont. They do wholesale, retail and custom processing of natural and organic beef, pork, lamb and veal. Animals are delivered to paddocks near the Wing’s own livestock to keep them contented until the last second of their lives. All animals and humans are treated with respect in a pleasant work atmosphere. The kill floor, processing room, cooler, cutting room, and retail Meat Shop are all in the same building.

Wing designed and built this facility for $750,000. It was financed in part by putting an agriculture conservation easement on the farm and in part by low interest loans from the state of Vermont. Over the Hill has the capacity to process 20 beef per day, 40 pigs per day, or 60 lambs per day. Carcasses are aged and cut to customer specifications. A USDA inspector is on the premises full time. The senior meat cutter has 20 years’ experience. The Meat Shop is open five days a week and sells a wide range of meat cuts, ground meat, sausages and cured meat at reasonable prices.

In addition to discussing plant design and processing, we will evaluate hanging carcasses and aging techniques. A meat cutting demonstration will focus on carcass profitability and packaging options. The USDA inspector will discuss standards for safety and quality, and provide insights into successful collaboration with the USDA. Chris Burrows, a local farmer and chef at the near-by Dorsett Inn, will prepare and serve a gourmet meal of beef and pork raised on the premises. There will be an extensive Q&A session with John Wing, the meat cutter, and the USDA inspector after lunch.

Benson, Vermont is located about 1.5 hours northeast of Albany, off of Route 22A. The workshop is limited to 20 people due to space constraints. To register call to reserve your place at 518-271-0744, ext. 3. Then mail your check payable to Regional Farm & Food Project, 295 Eighth Street, Troy, NY 12180.