“This change will help livestock and poultry producers in the new designated areas expand their sales in stores and restaurants in their communities, supporting a more sustainable regional food system and putting more great-tasting B.C. beef, pork and poultry on plates, grills and menus in those areas,” Lana Popham, B.C’s minister of agriculture, said in a statement.
Class D licences allow holders to process up to 25,000 pounds (11,250 kilograms) of meat (their own or someone else’s) per year, for direct sales to consumers, restaurants and other establishments in the region where the animal was processed.
As of June 2018, 21 British Columbians held Class D licences, a provincial report said.
Producers in the affected communities are pleased to see the government provide more business opportunities.
“This is another step in the right direction for local farmers,” Collin Van Horne, a beef producer with Nighthawk Ridge Farms in Port Alberni, said in the statement. “It gives us added flexibility in providing high-quality, locally produced food.”
Farms.com has reached out to the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association and the B.C. Chicken Marketing Board for comment.