Wanaka needs an abattoir?

Wanaka Sun Thursday 20th May

John McRae on his farm, Glendu Station. Photo: Simon Williams

By Gina Dempster

Wanaka needs an abattoir. Not something I thought I’d ever say, but it all comes from wanting to eat local. In the last few months I’ve come across at least three local farmers who are keen to supply beef and lamb to Wanaka (and I’m sure there are more out there), but they have all come against the same problem. To get the animals killed and butchered, they have to truck them down to Invercargill.

And then, of course, truck them back as meat.  It’s costly, and it takes away any advantage for them of selling their meat locally. Not to mention that it’s a bit ironic eating ‘local’ meat when it’s just been on a return trip to Invercargill.
At the Transition Towns talk in Wanaka last week, the 60 participants all had to envisage three things that we wanted for our town in the future. Local, nutritious food came up over and over again.

To get more local production, we need to make it economic for our local farmers to sell here in Wanaka. John McRae from Glendhu Bay Station, who attended the meeting, is passionate about farming without chemicals and producing
nutritious food.  He has been inspired by successful farmers overseas, who supply meat directly to local customers (Polyface farm in America and the Ballanee Angus beef station in Australia).

John has committed to investigating whether a small abattoir could work in Wanaka. His vision is to use by-products in Wanaka (for soap or petfood), and deal with the residual waste responsibly, possibly by using a worm farm.
John would like to hear from anyone else who is interested in the project: wanakaorganics@farmside.co.nz