From Jenny Sabo
The Amsterdam Meat Shop in Churchill, MT, moved from being a Custom Exempt to a State Inspected Facility on August 12, 2015. As a custom exempt facility, the Meat Shop was able to provide “kill and cut” services to local producers who sold their animals live to local family buyers. Now, Gallatin Valley’s livestock producers can vertically integrate their beef, lamb, pork, and goat production, providing locally raised meats processed at the Meat Shop to families and retail establishments from guest ranches and restaurants, to grocery stores and specialty meat shops anywhere in Montana. Farm to Table in Gallatin Valley just got easier! Amsterdam Meat Shop has undergone an important range of renovations to qualify for State Inspection. Livestock holding pens outside the building have been built, so that producers can drop off their animals for processing easily and safely.
These pens exhibit the latest innovations in calm, humane animal handling, and are designed for the safety of animals, producers and Meat Shop staff. Inside the kill floor sit two new “knock boxes” designed by Dr. Temple Grandin, autism activist and famed consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. Hydraulic, complicated, and using the same calming compression techniques that Dr. Grandin pioneered for autistic individuals, these machines hold and calm the cattle and small animals that are brought to the Meat Shop for processing. In the meat cutting room where whole and half animals are transformed from carcass to boxed meat, the sparkling clean walls, steel countertops, new sinks, better drainage, and bright lighting make for a safe, clean workplace. The Amsterdam Meat Shop prides itself on providing some of the cleanest meat in Montana to its customers. The Meat Shop currently sells federally inspected meat, all USDA Choice or better, at retail, from steaks to pork sausage to burger. Custom orders welcome, from one steak to a whole beef or barbecue pig. With the new State Inspected status, the Meat Shop is working to create its own ground beef product, from locally grown animals, for wholesale and retail sales. The Amsterdam Meat Shop is located at 6680 Amsterdam Rd. in Churchill, across from Danhoff Chevrolet.
The shop is open Monday through Friday from 8am 5pm. For more information, call (406) 282-7800 or e-mail Cat Starita, Managing Partner, at cat@amsterdammeatshop@yahoo.com. •