Inspiring the Next Generation of Meat Cutters and Butchers with Beef Checkoff Class Takeover
Mark Madden from the Meat Shop in Altoona, PA showing the butcher school students how to breakdown a chuck sub- primal and turn into merchandising beef cuts, during the Beef Checkoff Takeover Event on August 7th, 2024.
Bedford – State College, PA (August 12, 2024) The Beef Checkoff’s Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI) hosted a Beef Checkoff class takeover event in conjunction with Penn State’s Butcher School Program on Wednesday, August 7th, 2024 at Penn State’s Meat Lab.
Penn State’s Butcher School, offered by Penn State Extension, is an apprentice training program registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, the Penn State Butcher School is designed to develop and promote the skills necessary to become a trained meat processor.
NEBPI hosted a Beef Checkoff Class with present and past students from the apprenticeship program with the goal of the event to inspire the next generation of meat cutter/butchers to learn more about the beef carcass all while sharpening their cutting skills and noting it’s value and versatility.
Components of the Beef Checkoff class included, insights into today’s beef consumer, an overview on the Beef Checkoff and a review of resources that are available to foodservice and retail professionals, a guide into pitching beef to consumers, and a hands-on beef cutting breakdown conducted by Mark Madden professional meat cutter and owner of the Meat Shop in Altoona, PA.
“It was inspiring to work with what seems like a talented, and passionate group of apprentices, said Madden. I sincerely believe programs like this are integral for the future of butchery. Any time you can get like minded professionals in the same room, the results are always positive.”
Students had their own opportunity to break down a chuck roll themselves after following the instructional lead of Madden. This allowed them to put the information and skills they learned for the day to the test. Students also had to put their consumer sales pitch component to the test by pitching a selected merchandising cut from the chuck to the class.
Engagement opportunities, such as this provides hands-on experiences to arm these key foodservice leaders with beef information that can play an important role in ensuring consumers choose beef.
Ellie McMullen, one of the butcher apprentice students that participated in the class, shared how excited she was to learn how to turn profit from underutilized beef cuts in the chuck roll sub- primal and how various cuts originate from the chuck.
For more information about beef promotion in the Northeast region, visit www.nebpi.org/
Stay connected with the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative Facebook and Instagram pages to catch up on how the Northeast region is actively seeking to promote beef.
For more information, visit NEBPI.org or BeefBoard.org
Media Contact: Samantha Augustine, [email protected] or visit the NEBPI website.
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The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The Checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States may retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. Internal links within this document are funded and maintained by the Beef Checkoff. All other outgoing links are to websites maintained by third parties.
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