This workshop is grounded in an agroecology and food sovereignty perspective: starting from the simple idea that farmers and communities should have real control over how food is produced, processed, and shared. For us, building a micro-abattoir is not just a technical or business project, but part of a broader effort to reclaim local food systems from debt, corporate concentration, and regulatory frameworks designed for industrial scale.

We will share what we have learned over the past 15 years — from planning and food safety to construction, water, energy, and regulatory navigation — with a focus on what it takes to build viable, small-scale infrastructure that serves farmers, animals, workers, and community. We will also reflect on democratic governance, socially just working conditions, and how we have pursued this without taking on bank debt.

Above all, this is a space for farmer-to-farmer learning: connecting regenerative practice with political and economic questions about who controls land, labour, capital, and value in our food system. We look forward to the knowledge you will bring, and to the possibility of building shared strategies for more resilient, locally controlled food systems.

You can read the background to our project on our website.

Schedule

10:00 am                     Welcome & introductions

                                      Overview of Jonai Farms & Meatsmiths / Food sovereignty & agroecology

11:00 am                     Tour of farm

12:00 pm                    Abattoir tour

1:00 pm                       Lunch

2:00 pm                      Q& A / Business talk (collective business model built on relations)

3:00 pm                      Abattoir fine detail visit

4:00 pm          fin       

Learn more from Tim Thompson’s Farm Learning youtube episode, filmed in June 2025, in which we shared our long journey to build a micro-abattoir at Jonai Farms.