Source: Gina Smith, MOUNTAIN XPRESS, 8/15/20


Fatter prices, slimmer pickings: That’s been the pattern on supermarket shelves as COVID-19 outbreaks have disrupted livestock and poultry processing facilities across the U.S. In response, many Western North Carolina consumers have started looking to area farmers to keep meat on the table. The sudden surge in demand has opened new markets for WNC’s small meat producers, many of whom saw wholesale accounts devastated when local restaurants closed their dining rooms. But gridlock at the region’s few small-scale processing facilities has put a kink in the local supply chain.

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