Nevada livestock for local markets : changes in local food
(Book - Regular Print)

Thesis,MSFS,Green Mountain College,2015

Includes bibliographical references.

The hypothesis of this project is that the lack of local meat in Nevada's food system is due to the absence of meat processing facilities. To prove or disprove my hypothesis on whether gaining more full-service slaughterhouses would entice ranchers and farmers to slaughter their livestock in the state rather than exporting them research was conducted with three main parameters: 1) Local Food, 2) Nevada Agriculture, 3) Livestock for Nevadan Markets. This information was obtained from interviews with individuals who contribute to the Nevada food system, academic literature, and historical data on Nevada's agriculture system. This project will take a comprehensive look at the difficulties Nevadan ranchers and farmers face selling to a local market, the current state of the local food system in Nevada, and why Nevadan ranchers and farmers export their livestock across the country and around the world. There were three categories of individuals that I interviewed for this project -farmers/ranchers, farmers market participants, and chefs/restaurant owners. For ranchers/farmers, I asked them questions to understand their operations (what they do, why they do it, and how it is done), what they thought of Nevada's agriculture system, and what terms such as sustainable/local/farm-to-table means to them. With farmers market participants, the questions asked of them were similar to those of the ranchers/farmers. In addition, I inquired about the markets they participated in and what kind of responses they received from consumers. Of the chefs/restaurant owners I quizzed them on what kind of operations they ran, where they currently iv were sourcing their ingredients from, and what reasons, if any, held them back from sourcing locally. They were also queried on what the terms sustainable/local/ farm-to-table meant to them. From academic literature, I researched local food in general and the status of the local food movement in Nevada. For a complete understanding of Nevada's agriculture industry, I used historical data as well as academic literature. Using the culmination of material gathered I was able to come to the conclusion that the lack of meat processing facilities in Nevada does hamper local meat being distributed within the state, but it wasn't the only problem. Interviews revealed that not only was the limited availability of meat processing facilities hurting local meat from entering into Nevada's food system, but there was a disconnect between producers and consumers created mainly through ignorance. This disconnect is that consumers do not know they are surrounded by a booming livestock industry and producers are unsure how to go about entering into a local market or how to connect with potential consumers. Compounding this issue is that local food programs and organizations within Nevada are having a hard time reaching a wide audience and have little information to pass along to consumers about local meat.