Federal grant will help halal butchery to expand in Waldo County

A Unity-based butchery is receiving a $2.7 million grant to help it build a new processing facility that will expand the access to meat that’s deemed halal for people in Maine’s Muslim community.

Five Pillars Butchery is receiving the grant through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that supports the expansion of meat and poultry processing, according to the agency’s rural development director for Maine, Rhiannon Hampson.

“This investment demonstrates the continued commitment USDA has made to build a better, more inclusive food system,” said Hampson. “We recognize that food is fundamental to creating ‘home’ for so many. This award helps us to be more welcoming to new neighbors, and to support generational Mainers in accessing culturally appropriate food and markets — a win all around for the state of Maine.”

When it’s at full capacity, the expansion will allow the owners of Five Pillars, Hussam Al-Rawi and his wife Kathryn Piper, to process 20 cattle and up to 60 sheep and goats weekly, helping provide more halal meat to markets, schools, hospitals and food businesses.

Al-Rawi and Piper have been trying to expand since at least January , after they were first made aware of the federal grant program, they told Maine Public at the time. Being one of the the only halal meat processors in the state, they’ve noticed growing demand for halal meat in Maine and the Northeast.