The Montserrat Rural Park has inaugurated a new, pioneering facility in Catalonia that combines training and meat processing services within the same building. Located in Marganell, the project cost approximately €100,000, which has been co-funded by the Diputació de Barcelona and the FEDER funds as part of the BCN Smart Rural strategy.

The launch of the facility began last week with the first session of a meat processing course, which consists of five sessions and will run until December. Aimed at local farmers and shepherds seeking to enhance the economic viability of their operations through direct meat sales, the course is led by three experts: Cesc and Montse Ribalta of Ribalta Carnissers, and Agustí Quintana, a technician from the Institute of Research and Technology in Food and Agriculture (IRTA).

With a full capacity, the keen interest of the farmers and shepherds in the Montserrat Rural Park to learn the course content has been evident. The first session covered the butchery and preparation of lamb, goat, and chicken. The second and third sessions will take place on 4 and 11 November and will focus on the breakdown of the fore and hind quarters of beef calves. The fourth session, scheduled for 17 November, will concentrate on hygiene and food handling, while the fifth session, which will be held after the Constitution Day holiday on 9 December, will be dedicated to meat product marketing.

The course has been organised by the Montserrat Rural Park in its training butchery facility, supported by the Rural Initiatives Association of Catalonia (ARCA) and the BCN Smart Rural project, led by the Diputació de Barcelona. This new facility is just one of five shared food transformation spaces being developed under this programme. The other four are the Lluçanès cheese dairy, the Bages vegetable workshop, the Moianès small modular abattoir, and the Central Catalonia abattoir. Some of these are already operational, and others will be soon.

For more information about the Montserrat Rural Park’s butchery facility and its training programme, please contact Marta Martínez, territorial engineer and manager of the facility.

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial —