As observed during the recent American Roundtable on Agriculture in Wisconsin by Badger State meat processor and National Football League Hall of Fame offensive lineman Joe Thomas.
“As a farm-to-table beef producer, we see one of the biggest bottlenecks in our country is the lack of small packing and processing plants.”
That is where increasing federal support for small and very small meat and poultry processing plants through the recently announced USDA Small Processors Action Plan comes in.
“Providing customer service and technical assistance to these plants when needed so that they can continue to operate and FSIS doesn’t have any barriers to them in meeting our food safety standards.”
Undersecretary for Food Safety Mindy Brashears explains the impetus of the plan.
“We at FSIS regulate all of the meat and poultry industry, and about 90% of our plants fall in the small and very small category. And that’s very much defined in our rulemaking system. And a small plant has less than 500 employees, and our very small plants have less than 10 employees. And so that’s the great majority of what we regulate. Over the past several years, we have found, through research and gathering information, that they have some really special needs.”
The small processors action plan contains three focal points. First, improving customer service and responsiveness.
“In terms of customer service, we really want to have dedicated support for our small and very small processors. We have set that support aside so they know that they have very specific points of contact within the agency, and also, they need timely answers. So now they’re going to have their own system where they can track that appeal, know where it is, or even a question, and they’re not just really waiting in the dark.”
Then there is making requirements easier for small and very small meat and poultry processors to understand and to navigate on a regulatory level.
“When you’re working in food safety and with a regulatory agency, some things can get very complex. We’re going to make sure our notices and directives are written so that they’re not so much on the legal or technical side. They’re still going to get the information, but we’ll provide them with summaries that are easy to understand and that they can implement.”
The third point is reducing unnecessary regulatory burden via streamlining.
“Streamlining the process is really involving a number of different areas to make sure that we meet their needs and that they get all the resources they can at the government level.”