Patience Brings the Promise of New Meat Processing to Southeast Michigan
Good things in life often require unlimited patience.
Just ask Rosemary Linares and Damian Rivera of Damian’s Craft Meats in Anne Arbor, MI.
A vision that began a decade ago is nearing fruition for Rosemary and Damian.
Damian was born in Mexico and grew up directly connected to the local butcher, or carincero, who provided the meat for his family’s table. He came to the U.S. as an entrepreneur in the meat industry and apprenticed in USDA-inspected and custom-exempt slaughterhouses. Along the way, he met Rosemary, whose great-grandfather had started a USDA slaughterhouse in his backyard in Michigan.
They came from different cultures but shared a passion for processing healthy, local meat and a dedication to environmental stewardship, animal welfare, and social justice.
As Rosemary explained in a recent podcast aired on Yanasa TV, ten years ago, they decided, “Hey, we’re going to start a slaughterhouse. Then, we learned that it is a complicated, involved process, with many regulations and expensive costs.”
Undeterred, they navigated the maze of regulations and overcame many obstacles keeping them from their dream. They developed a successful custom-exempt processing and catering business and are now taking the leap to develop a USDA-inspected processing and marketing enterprise.
Damian continues managing the butchering and catering business, while Rosemary leads their expansion plan, which includes business plan development, grant applications, securing financing, and management.
Their business model is grounded in creating a new market outlet for local farmers who practice regenerative agriculture and adhere to strict animal welfare practices. It also includes strong respect for the people who will staff their new facility.
“I love the concept of reverence for the meat that we eat and for the animal that provides that meat,” she notes. “We also want to offer a culturally responsive atmosphere and environment for our workers.”
A Local Food Promotion Program grant from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service allowed them to conduct a feasibility study and establish their business plan. More recently, they were awarded a $4 million USDA Rural Development Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program grant to build a new, USDA-inspected facility.
They have also received support through the USDA Meat and Poultry Processing Technical Assistance program, which the nonprofit Flower Hill Institute coordinates.
Rosemary said, “The technical assistance piece is really dynamic, and such a value-add for folks like me. The investment in providing capacity-building support for smaller processors has been the key to matching the need with the ability to manage a grant.
“Managing a grant is difficult, but managing a government grant is a whole different level of challenging, so having the no-cost technical assistance piece is brilliant. I see them (the technical assistance providers) as part of my team.”
She also recognizes that she is helping to forge a path for other women and minorities in meat processing.
“For every moment of discomfort, I am creating a trail so that other people can come alongside and create more diversity,” she said.
The dream that began a decade ago has never dimmed. “We are mindful of the power of food and our food system, as well as the fragility of our food system, as we think about how the pandemic impacted the meat industry for consumers, farmers, and workers. All of those have guided our thinking. We’ve remained steadfast in our vision to have the facility located here.”