Organic Meat Processing

Demand for certified organic meat is increasing, especially among Gen Z and Millennials. But what does it look like to actually meet this demand– and can the niche U.S. meat market deliver? In this episode Kate introduces two people in the organic meat industry to give us a closer look at the policies, infrastructure, and culture affecting organic meat production.

The Taproot Podcast is an initiative of the Midwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program, a project funded by the USDA National Organic Program to support transitioning and organic producers with mentorship and technical assistance and to grow the greater organic community. Learn more at organictransition.org.

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Jessica Roosa holds a BS in Biology from Purdue University. She is the owner and manager of This Old Farm, Inc., located in and around Colfax, Indiana. In 2000, she started farming on an 88-acre family farm, raising Katahdin sheep, pastured pork and poultry, hay, dairy cows, and vegetable crops. She continues to raise sheep and has added farm stays through purchase of more ground with cabins. In 2009, meat processing services were added. What started as a single farm operation grew to support many farm operations. Jessica is passionate about farm-based education. She is a regular speaker at farm and food conferences. Her personal mission is to revitalize rural communities by investing in one farm at a time to bring life back to the family livestock farmer.

Dave Carter is a Regional Director of the Meat and Poultry Processing Capacity Technical Assistance Program (MPPTA) supporting producers seeking to create a more resilient, diversified, and equitable meat and poultry processing system in the United States.

From 2001 through March 2022, Carter served as executive director of the 1,200-member National Bison Association, where he worked to strengthen production and marketing systems for North American bison ranchers. He has also operated Crystal Springs Consulting, Inc. since 2001 and has worked extensively on issues relating to organic and natural food marketing, cooperative development, meat processing, tribal food sovereignty, cooperative development, and regenerative agriculture.

He is the former Chair of USDA’s National Organic Standards Board. He later helped gain regulatory approval for non-GMO labeling of meat, poultry, and dairy products sourced from animals fed diets without genetically modified ingredients. Prior to 2002, Carter had a 25-year career with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and National Farmers Union.

Dave and his wife, Sue, are partners in a holistically managed bison herd on a 7,800-acre ranch owned by the Savory Institute in eastern Colorado.

• Sovereignty Matters
• 2026 Power of Meat Report
• Flower Hill Institute MPPTA
• This Old Farm, Inc.

This work was funded and supported by the USDA National Organic Program, Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP)

Produced by Kate Cowie-Haskell

Podcast art by Geri Shonka

Music:

• Chasin It by Jason Shaw
• Ghost Solos by Lucas Gonze