table talk / By Stephanie Silvia

Birds of Arcata

For the business to grow with the overwhelming demand for pasture-raised chicken meat, the Brunners need to have access to a state certified poultry processing facility, which is required if they are to sell to markets and restaurants, anywhere other than their farmstand. Last year Wild Chick Farm won $25,000 in the Eureka Reporter’s Economic Fuel Competition by submitting their business plan, which included designs for a certified processing facility. Using Washington State’s model for a low-cost mobile processing unit (MPU), they have been working with Humboldt County Department of Environmental Health and the State Department of Agriculture on adapting the unit to meet California regulations.

The MPU has the advantages of mobility, reduced infrastructure cost and no land cost. It can go to the chickens rather than the chickens going to the processing facility. Sara took me inside their trailer-like vehicle with stainless steel walls dividing it into two rooms. When complete, the chickens should be defeathered and scalded in one room, then passed through a window in the wall into the other room, where two eviscerators will complete the job, all according to Board of Health Standards. Exactly what was happening outside at the farm will occur in the trailer when the MPU is completed. The process will be enclosed and more efficient.

The Brunners envision a farmers’ cooperative, the MPU traveling farm to farm on slaughter day. A cooperative could split other costs, too. The chickens Wild Chick raises — Red Broilers — come from pasture-based genetic stock raised in France, sent to the East Coast then here. It would initially cost $15,000 for Sara to buy her own parent stock and breed her own chicks, costs that could be split among other farmers if the interest is there.

Organic feed is another big expense. At this time, organic feed is not grown in California and must be shipped from the Midwest. Every other part of the operation is local.

The problem for some may be the price. At $6.50 a pound, the broiler I roasted last night came to $30. I think it was worth it. I’d rather serve less meat and buy it from vendors whose practices resound with my values. With oil prices and the toll non-ecological practices take from the earth, communities need to produce sustainably and buy locally as best they can.

Humboldt County, with its long growing season, farmers, artisans, and forward thinking populace, is a perfect area for Sara Brunner’s goal of a cooperative of pasture-raised poultry farms to be realized.

Heavenly WCF Slow-Roasted Chicken

Here’s how I cooked my bird, using a lower temperature and cooking for a longer time to assure a juicy chicken.

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