The Butchers - Tammi Jonas & Grant Hilliard

What does “ethical meat” actually mean in a world of shrinking abattoirs, industrial consolidation and changing consumer expectations? And what does it take for small-scale farmers and butchers to keep integrity at the centre of the food chain?

In this episode of Paddock, Plate & Planet, host Imogen Corlette speaks with two people who have spent years grappling with these questions from the ground up. Tammi Jonas, regenerative pig farmer and President of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, has long argued that ethical meat must be rooted in ecological care, animal welfare and localised processing. Her perspective is shaped by the structural changes happening across Australia most notably the closure and consolidation of small abattoirs. These closures are redrawing the map of Australian meat production, pushing farmers further from consumers, eroding regional infrastructure, and making it increasingly difficult for small-scale producers to work with the care and transparency they value.

Alongside her is Grant Hilliard, co-founder of Feather and Bone Providores, a butchery built entirely on relationships of trust. For Grant, ethical meat isn’t an abstract idea but a daily commitment to knowing the farmers he buys from. He understands how animals live and die, and helps customers appreciate the full story behind what they’re eating. Feather and Bone’s approach including whole-animal butchery, deep provenance knowledge, and unfiltered transparency, stands in stark contrast to the anonymity of industrial supply chains. Grant reflects on how customers’ choices are shifting, why people are asking more questions than ever before, and what it means for a butcher to become a trusted middle man between producer and eater.

Together, Tammi and Grant paint a picture of a meat system at a crossroads. On one side is consolidation: fewer abattoirs, longer transport distances, and an increasingly centralised processing landscape that leaves small farmers squeezed and regional skills eroding. On the other is a growing appetite for something different - meat that comes with context, accountability, and a connection to the people and places behind it. They explore the cultural and ethical shifts underway, the rise of “less but better” eating, and the responsibilities we all carry in shaping the kind of food system we want to support.

This episode is for anyone weighing up their own choices in buying meat for their families and looking for insight into this complexity. 

Read more about Tammi Jonas on substack here: Tammi Jonas: Food Politics | Substack

Learn more about Grant’s butchery Feather & Bone here: Organic Butcher Shop Sydney - Feather and Bone Butchery

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