I had typed a really long post on Wednesday evening. Nothing controversial just lots of good info. And that damn laptop struck again. Well, I am now in the market for a new computer as that was The End of that laptop.
On Wednesday, every class period, I drove a yellow bus and hauled every Shattuck FFA student to the ag farm. We properly harvested broilers. 46 birds that were 8 weeks old and averaged about 8.5 to 9 pounds apiece. Students were shown how to properly & humanely harvest, exsanguiate, scald, pluck, eviscerate, clean and bag these birds. Then the students got hands-on. Yes, some more than others. Yes, there was a girl or three that hid their eyes. Sure, there were plenty of girls that girl right in the middle of the action. And there were boys that watched but didn’t want to do the dirty work.
Shattuck is a very rural town. Roughly 1,200 people with an agriculture and oil background. Very few of the 120 ag students have a family that farms/ranches full time. Most are related to somebody with cattle. Only two of the students had ever butchered chickens before Wednesday. This is the issue that agriculture is facing all across this country. Kids don’t know exactly how their food is produced.
I enjoy livestock evaluation contests. I also am a product of livestock showing. I still love these foundational skills that are learned from showing livestock. Kela and Duke were raised with family, friends and stock show animals. There are obviously some things about shows that I would like to change. My question–Are we properly teaching students about livestock through the stock show program? That’s a question for each of you to answer for yourselves.
As a whole, I don’t think that we, as ag eduators, do a good enough job teaching meats, poultry or grain processing. I do a decent job, at times, but could definitely do better. All ag teachers spend time preparing for the next thing on the calendar–stock shows, speaking/judging contests/ leadership events, etc. Agriculture needs us to make sure students know how and why livestock are grown/processed and how/why farmers & ranchers do the things that we do.
Why doesn’t every school have some sort of meats lab? Don’t tell me cost! Gyms, wood/metal shops, ag farms and ball fields all cost a lot to build and maintain. Food sciences & the production of those foods involve every student. EVERY student.
And in the end, we will cook some of these birds. ALL students like to eat. And when they have had a hand in the production/processing of the food, they take ownership and learning takes place.
It is fall break, the American Royal is taking place and I need to get on the road. Have a good one and a better tomorrow.
