A Kink in the Chain 

Editor:

When I went to donate a cow to the local food bank, I was directed to Redwood Meat Co.'s slaughterhouse ("Pandemic Widens Gaps in Regional Food Supply Chain," June 4). They are so swamped, they said, that they didn't have an opening to slaughter local beef until December. On hearing it was to be a Food for People donation, however, they promised to "squeeze one in" for July.

Here we are in Humboldt with some of the best year-round pastures in the state, producing top quality, grass fed and finished beef and our one slaughterhouse is booked up, often by out-of-county enterprises who can't find slaughterhouses in their counties. California used to have lots of local meat processing facilities but regulations meant to curb abuses of the corporate monopolies have made it nearly impossible for the small ones to survive. If not for the dedication and commitment of the Nylanders of Redwood Meat Co. persisting despite new waves of regulations and inspectors, we wouldn't even have local beef in our diet.

California needs to make it easy for residents to eat locally, by reducing regulations on the small, conscientious meat packing outfits that are needed to keep our people and ag economy healthy.

Michael Evenson, Petrolia