Unity halal butchery can help address food insecurity and support local farmers

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Finn Madden works for Full Plates Full Potential, which works to strengthen childhood nutrition programs to end childhood food insecurity in Maine.

Imagine you’re a student in rural Maine. It’s lunchtime at school. You’re hungry, but the cafeteria has no options for you. You watch your peers enjoy their meals while you worry about making it through the rest of the day. You sit through class and can feel your stomach rumble, making it hard to focus on anything else. This is the reality for many Maine students who eat halal, as recently reported by the Portland Press Herald.

The proposed expansion of Five Pillars Butchery in Unity offers a promising solution — fresh, locally processed halal meat that would ensure every child has access to healthy, culturally appropriate meals. Yet, despite its potential to address food insecurity and support local farmers, and despite already having state approval, the project faces a hurdle. The Unity Planning Board will vote on Thursday, July 10, to approve or deny Five Pillars’ plans, which engineers, as well as experts from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, have already approved. And we believe this butchery will have a profound effect on our children, community, and economy.

But if the board fails to pass Five Pillars’ plan, the opportunity disappears. Millions in public funding are forfeited. The facility may never be built. Families, farmers, and students may be left without access to fresh protein options in their schools, and there will be a weakened food chain in Maine that we in the state can’t rely on in a time of need.

Maine has one of the highest rates of child food insecurity in New England, and struggles to be a state that can produce enough food on its own to feed its population. To meet the nutritional needs of our students, schools rely on consistent, affordable food procurement to feed children well.

Full Plates Full Potential works at the intersection of food access and equity. We support child nutrition programs across the state in serving everyone, regardless of their background or dietary needs. Halal is no exception. We work every day to connect Maine kids with healthy, accessible, and culturally relevant food. The need is there, and we know this project delivers on all fronts.

When we first began working alongside Five Pillars Butchery, we realized that this project had the potential to transform how food is produced and distributed in Maine, simultaneously giving farmers more options and control over where they send their meat for processing while keeping money, and food, in the state.

This project is fully funded, and the only one of its kind in the state that is shovel-ready. It will create a halal-certified meat and poultry processing facility right here in Waldo County. We believe Five Pillars Butchery has gone above and beyond in meeting environmental, public health, and community standards. Experts confirm it’s safe, sustainable, and well within state guidelines.

It will supply schools, hospitals, and other institutions with high-quality, locally processed protein while providing local farmers with reliable access to a regional processor. It promises to unlock new markets and economic opportunities across the state.

This is not just a butchery. It’s a chance to invest in infrastructure that feeds our kids, grows our local economy and reflects the full diversity of our state.

This is practical. It’s a deeply needed investment in Maine’s future. And it’s in jeopardy. We strongly urge the Unity Planning Board to approve the Five Pillars Butchery project and allow this important work to move forward.

The reasons are many, and the benefits are clear. When we invest in food access, we invest in Maine.