Thirty-four organisations, reflecting a wide range of food, farming, consumer and nature conservation interests have written to Defra’s Secretary of State, Michael Gove, asking him to take urgent action to save the UK’s network of smaller abattoirs, which are closing at an alarming rate.

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The group ranges from the National Trust and RSPCA to the Scottish Crofting Federation, the Women’s Institute and the National Sheep Association. In the letter they point out that the existence of a network of smaller abattoirs enabling thousands of family farmers to supply meat and other livestock products to a growing number of customers, either directly or via retail and catering outlets, represents a huge national asset.

The Government has indicated that it prefers farm animals to be slaughtered close to the place of production , yet the statistics show that the opposite is happening. A third of small abattoirs have closed in the past ten years and closures are continuing. A further 6 (10%) of small abattoirs have closed in the last twelve months, with the latest, Bakers of Nailsea, which has been serving farmers and butchers in Somerset for 120 years, closing its door for the final time during the last month.

Patrick Holden, Chief Executive of the Sustainable Food Trust, said, “The sale of locally-produced meat helps to keep many family farmers in business and has huge benefits for consumers and the environment. For the first time in my farming lifetime, Defra is genuinely striving to develop a more sustainable food system with additional focus on animal welfare. But that could come unstuck if we lose more local abattoirs. Without local slaughtering there will be no traceable local meat, it’s as simple as that.”

John Mettrick, Chairman of National Craft Butchers and owner of a small abattoir in Derbyshire, said, “We have hit a perfect storm of problems: increased costs, rock bottom prices for hides and skins, some gold-plated regulations, and excessive paperwork, much of it involving unnecessary duplication.”

Sara Jane Staines of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts said, “We need to be able to fly the flag for less but better-quality meat with a known provenance. We can’t do that without accessible abattoirs across the country.”

Michael Gove has acknowledged the problem facing producer-retailers who lose their local abattoir. The signatories of the joint letter now want him to take urgent action to help the smaller abattoir sector, which is in danger of further contraction. This would include setting up a group to advise on how best to resolve the regulatory and other problems besetting smaller abattoirs in order to ensure their continued survival.

The Campaign for Local Abattoirs, which coordinated the joint letter, was established by the Sustainable Food Trust and National Craft Butchers to highlight the current crisis in the supply of local meat.

The 34 organisations are:

Bristol University Veterinary School

Campaign to Protect Rural England

Compassion in World Farming

Country Land and Business Association

Countryside Alliance

Eating Better

Family Farmers' Association

FARMA – The Farm Retail Association

Friends of the Earth

Greenpeace

Guild of Fine Food

Guild of Food Writers

Livestock Wise

Master Chefs of Great Britain

National Craft Butchers (formerly NFMFT)

National Federation of Women’s Institutes

National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs (National Agriculture and Rural Issues Steering Group)

National Sheep Association

National Trust

Organic Farmers and Growers

Pasture Fed Livestock Association

Q Guild of Butchers

Rare Breeds Survival Trust

Royal Academy of Culinary Arts

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Scottish Crofting Federation

Scottish Craft Butchers/SFMTA

Scottish Islands Abattoir Association

Slow Food UK

Soil Association

SUSTAIN

Sustainable Food Trust

Tenant Farmers Association