The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) calls on the Scottish Government to give tangible support to the creation of small local abattoirs that can underpin the meat niche market Scotland seeks.
“The abattoir situation is very vexing,” said SCF Chair, Russell Smith. “We all agree that the niche, high provenance meat market is the way forward for Scotland, whatever happens regarding Europe. Yet high quality meat producers’ efforts are stymied by having such a scarcity of abattoirs and thus poor traceability. Animal welfare is compromised by vast transport distances and there is the added cost of travelling to and from the abattoir which can make direct selling unprofitable for small producers. Inexplicably, this cannot be compensated for in Less Favoured Area support. Look at a map showing red meat slaughtering facilities in the UK; it is not great elsewhere but Scotland is shamefully neglected, it is an abattoir desert.
