Connor Robbins, a Junior at Potosi High School, is taking advantage of a new Southwest Technical College course, to have an early start to his career. Artisanal Modern Meat Butchering is a new course through Southwest Tech which is funded by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection Meat Talent Development grant. The course is now in its second year. It's a program that provides a technical diploma, which is earned through four classes, with in-person classes on the weekends, and 144 internship hours needed.
The classes focus on the history of meat processing, humane handling, fabrication of carcasses, processing meat, and safety and sanitation. This class is a half online and half in-person course. During the first semester, students have to meet in Fennimore at SWTC on eight different Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM to do hands-on labs, but they also have to do online homework during the week. There are also two field trips that students have to attend. The second semester of the course is internship hours where students will be paired with local businesses to learn through hands-on experiences. students must complete 144 internship hours. Connor says he “hopes to do his internship hours with one of the local butcher shops.”
“Last year I tried to get into this course, but did not get in due to the very small class size of ten,” Connor said. Connor had to provide some of his own equipment also: two knives, a butchering coat, gloves, and a knife sharpener. While taking this course, you will also have access to some electrical tools like a bandsaw and grinder. Connor says that the class is very fun, and he says he thinks people should take it even if they're just taking it to learn butchering skills. His favorite part so far has been cutting up a hog into primaries; they have also butchered lamb and beef.
Connor is taking this course because he wants to have a career in the food industry. Connor says he got interested in the food industry by watching cooking TV shows and cooking with his family. “As a kid, I cooked with my family a lot and it made me love it.” His goal is to eventually be a cook. His plan is to go to Madison Area Technical College to further his learning in the food industry.
With this course being grant-funded and in the second year of the course, it's running out of money, and the future of this course is uncertain, even for the rest of this school year. Connor says, “They don't know if they will have the money to be able to do it again next year, and even this year, we might have to pay to keep it running until we get our degrees.”
Connor says that this course is really fun, and if you are interested in or want to pursue a career in the food industry, you should take this course. Even if you don't want to be a chef, Connor says it's still a nice skill to know, even if it's just for processing your own meat from animals.