From Family Flock to Homegrown Food

Island Grown Initiative (IGI), a not-for-profit, is helping local backyard farmers on Martha's Vineyard feed their families.

In this trial run of IGI's Mobile Poultry Processing Trailer, three flock owners bring their birds to a neutral site to be humanely and cleanly processed into food for their families. In regulatory language, this is a 'custom only' event, ie: not for sale. IGI's trained team handles the process to ensure quality control. The growers participate in the processing and in the end, take their own dressed birds home for bagging.

In the 'Pack in Pack out' process - each family is also responsible for the removal of compostables, back to their property for proper composting. The equipment is cleaned and sanitized between flocks. In total, seventy-eight cornish rock hens are humanely handled and safely processed. Now, three backyard farmers have their own food in their own freezers for their own families.

In this slide show, several of the backyard farmers share their views on the importance of this mobile poultry processing and, what it means to their lives. Michael Pollan, who came to see the process, discusses the importance of mobile poultry processing on the island of Martha's Vineyard and across the country.

The processing was a trial run for backyard farmers on the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society fairgrounds. This trial was made possible, as well as successful, by the collective efforts of state regulatory agencies and the support of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, Douglas W. Petersen, Commissioner.

Much of the photography for this story was provided courtesy of Randi Baird.

Island Grown Initiative, a local food, culture and agriculture organization, joins local growers, the local Brazilian community and island restaurants in an effort to connect agriculture and local culture.

Taioba is a staple in many countries (known as tannia, inhame, and other names). By planting it here IGI will attract people to local farm produce and will expand the food choices available to islanders.

The Taioba pilot project is underway at Whippoorwill Farm and Norton Farm and is made possible by the Ethnic Crops program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. It is also made possible by local entrepreneur Elio Silva.

There is much more marketing information at the Ethnic Crops program as well.

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Publicity/sound bytes abound these days on: Green living, local food, concerns over climate, water and soil, using more local/renewable resources, alternate transportation, and Green/natural building. Designing/remodeling homes, landscapes and whole communities for lower resource use, more recycling and reuse, less oil-based transportation, and more local businesses, employment, products, and food production are becoming more important to the economy, the environment, and human welfare. Sustainable Strategy efforts are springing up for cities/towns, schools, colleges, open spaces, farms, and neighborhoods.