If an Airstream and a slaughterhouse had a baby

The concept of eating local always has geographic limitations. And those limitations are most apparent with regard to meat — the challenge for cattle ranchers and farmers is in finding a local slaughterhouse.

A group in the Puget Sound-area hopes to meet the demands of the locavore movement through the introduction of a Mobile Meat Processing Unit — a “slaughterhouse on wheels.” The 45-foot stainless steel trailer has been specially built to bring a local butchering option to farmers in Washington.

Although it will be more than a year before the $300,000 unit is completely operational, it is expected to service farms in six counties. In addition to being certified as organic, the trailer (which resembles the temporary offices on construction sites) will be accompanied by a USDA inspector at each stop.