IMPORTANCE OF RABBIT

Rabbits are a quick-breeding source of low-fat, high-protein meat and have long been enjoyed as a food by people around the world. A fine-grained white meat, it can be substituted for chicken in many recipes and is a diet staple in both France and Italy.

Until the increase in beef consumption in the 1960s, rabbit was also popular in the United States. Today, the interest in lower fat diets and healthy eating combined with an ongoing pursuit by chefs and foodies of novel and locally produced foods has led to a domestic resurgence in the use of rabbits for meat.  November 2013 . . .  Rabbits

Marketing

• Don’t Tell the Kids, New York Times, Kim Severson, March 2, 2010 - This article chronicles rabbits from slaughter to consumption.
• Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS), Foreign Ag Service (FAS), USDA.
• Marx Foods - Online sales of rabbit meat.
• North American Import & Export - Restaurant distributors of fine foods.
• Rabbit enjoys a renaissance after celebrity chefs put it on the menu, The Telegraph, Laura Roberts, January 21, 2011 - Effects of chef promotion of rabbit meat in the United Kingdom.
• Rabbit: (Almost) Too Cute to Eat, Epicurean.com, Kris Wetherbee, 2008 - An overview of the rabbit meat trend.
• United States Classes, Standards, and Grades for Rabbits, Ag Marketing Service, USDA,2002.
  

• Production

  • Table 24, Chapter 2. State Data, 2007 Census of Agriculture, National Ag Statistics Service, USDA, 2009.
  • American Rabbit Breeders Association - The association's membership totals over 30,000 throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.
  • Animal Welfare Act, APHIS, USDA - Rabbits fall under the protection of this act.
  • Guidelines for Entry into Meat Rabbit Production, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities, revised 2011 - This article provides some basic guidelines about getting started in the meat rabbit business.
  • Mobile Slaughter/Processing Units, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University.
  • Rabbit from Farm to Table, Food Safety and Inspection, USDA, 2006.
  • Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease, Center for Food Security and Public Health, Iowa State University, 2007.
  • Rabbit Production, Mississippi State University, 2010 - MSU CAREs.com. http://mafes.msstate.edu/
  • Rabbit Production, Pennsylvania State University Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension, 2008 - Provides information to evaluate initial resources needed. 
  • Raising Meat Rabbits, Cornell University Cooperative Extension Service, 2005 - Presents sample budget and other considerations for evaluating this enterprise.
  • Raising Rabbits on Pasture, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, 2009.
  • Small-Scale Sustainable Rabbit Production, ATTRA, National Sustainable Ag Information Service, NCAT, 2012 - This publication focuses on meat rabbits and sustainable rabbit management.
  • U.S. Rabbit Industry Profile, APHIS, USDA - Valuable reference source on rabbit markets.