That’s one of the three words the Biden administration used in January 2022 to describe its commitment to smaller meat and poultry processors nationwide: “A fairer, more competitive, and more resilient meat and poultry supply chain.”
Flower Hill's regional Directors, Chris Roper and Dave Carter, have met with hundreds of processors over the past two years as they traveled through 38 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands as part of the Meat and Poultry Processing Technical Assistance (MPPTA) program.
No doubt, the smaller processing enterprises emerging in rural communities are resilient not so much because of bricks and mortar or new hardware inside those facilities. Real resiliency is found in the dedication and determination of the people developing and expanding these businesses.
Resiliency is a common currency in Puerto Rico, where residents talk matter-of-factly about living for months without electricity and weeks without fresh water following devastating hurricanes in 2017 and 2022. Yeidi Cruz is one strong example. Standing barely 5ft. Yeidi pioneered a small processing enterprise that began preparing boxed meals for local schools.
Hurricanes Maria in 2017 and Fiona in 2022 nearly wiped Yeidi's business off the map. Both times, she came back stronger. She now operates her emerging business in a concrete former school inland from the ocean near Isabella. She still processes meal kits but has expanded her business to produce a variety of value-added sausages and other meat products, some of which recently landed in the meat case of the island's Walmart stores.
Across the Island, a cooperative of pork producers launched in the wake of Maria continues to expand its marketing of roasting hogs for restaurants along the famed Pork Highway while finalizing plans to purchase and upgrade a facility that will enable them to begin offering Puerto Rican-grown and processed pork in retail stores throughout the territory.
A short flight across the waters, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture and University are working to support the effort of local producers to revive the livestock sector in St. Thomas by reopening a small slaughter facility that has been shuttered for over a decade. The project is daunting, in no small part, because nearly everything needed for remodeling, upgrading, and re-equipping the facility must be brought in from the Mainland.
Building new processing and marketing businesses is risky and challenging, even in the best of times. Throw in periodic hurricanes, logistical challenges, and economic disparity, and the job becomes even more difficult. Yet, these enterprises continue to sprout and grow mainly because of the resiliency of local people dedicated to rebuilding food security for their communities.
