HERE’s The beef
Do you remember last year when meat was difficult to find?
When the lockdowns went into effect, and major meat producers had to scale back production in the fight against COVID-19, many Oklahomans sought out local sources of meat. However, that highlighted a new problem: workforce shortages.
In this episode, CareerTech Horizon examines Oklahoma’s meat shortage and how teamwork from all over the state seeks to train more meat processors to prevent another shortage.
- They examine how Oklahoma lawmakers responded to the initial meat shortage and began to expand the state’s local processing capacity.
- They look into how CareerTech teamed up with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry to train a new workforce in a partnership that paid dividends.
- They hit the road to check out high schools and tech centers adding meat processing to their curriculum.
- Check out the new Mobile Meat Processing Lab – a refrigerated semi-trailer converted into a classroom on wheels.
- A new Oklahoma-certified beef standard seeks to help farmers and ranchers market their meat directly to consumers.
You can subscribe to the CareerTech Horizon podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, TuneIn or Stitcher or ask your smart speaker to play “CareerTech Horizon.”
Also, don’t forget to follow them on Twitter @CT_Horizon, or on Facebook to stay up to date with this ongoing project. Visit their website for show notes, episode trailers and bonus content “Beyond Your Horizon” at http://cthorizon.org
This episode builds on their last episode about challenges and opportunities in agriculture. So definitely share this with the same people you shared that one with! It’s also a good way to illustrate the “why” of this program with potential students, parents, and lawmakers.