Rabbits are a quick-breeding source of low-fat, high-protein meat and have long been enjoyed as a food by many people across 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.  January 2012 . . .  Rabbits

Marketing

• Bottles and Bunnies; Five Rabbit recipes from top chefs with wine pairings. Star chefs.com, JIm Clarke, 2006.
• Caffe Boa defends rabbit-based Easter dinner after outcry. The Arizona Republic, John Stanley, March 30, 2010.
• Don’t Tell the Kids. The New York Times, Kim Severson, March 2, 2010 - A popular article chronicling 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.

Production

• Table 24, 2007 Census of Agriculture, National Ag Statistics Service, USDA, 2009.
• American Rabbit Breeders Association - Information on rabbits. 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, rev 2011 - Rabbit Production 101 provides an introduction to this enterprise.
• 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 Industry Council - Extensive information on meat rabbits; free information and videos.
• 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.
• U.S. Rabbit Industry Profile, APHIS, USDA - Valuable reference source on rabbit markets. 

Case Studies

• Devils Gulch Ranch  - Site of California rabbit farm.
• Farming and Breeding Fresh Rabbits for NYC Restaurants, Liza de Guia - "Food curated" video featuring John Fazio's Rabbit Farm in Modena, New York.
• Larson Rabbitry - A new venture based in Wisconsin.
• Pel Freez - A 100-year-old California business that supplies rabbits for both meat and laboratory uses.