- Customers receive a product that is healthier and tastier.
- Local meat can be more easily traced to the farm on which it is raised and the facility at which it is slaughtered.
- There is higher accountability for production practices such as humane treatment and use of antibiotics.
- It promotes the sustainable economic development of small-scale, family farms.
- It improves the resiliency and food security of the region in providing its own food supply.
We have already made progress towards meeting the goal of sourcing more meat from local farms. We have established relationships with Misty Knoll Farms in Vermont (poultry), Diemand Farm in Wendell, MA (poultry), PT Farm in New Hampshire (beef and pork), and Maple Valley Farm in Hadley, MA (beef). Our largest local partner, Joe Czajkowski Farm in Hadley, MA, also began raising poultry for UMass last year and plans to ramp up production.