CareerTech Horizon 2-2: “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, we examine Oklahoma’s meat shortage and how teamwork from all over the state seeks to train more meat processors to prevent another shortage.

  • We’ll examine how Oklahoma lawmakers responded to the initial meat shortage  and began to expand the state’s local processing capacity.
  • We’ll 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.
  • We’ll 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 our podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, TuneIn or Stitcher or ask your smart speaker to play “CareerTech Horizon.”

Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @CT_Horizon, or on Facebook to stay up to date with this ongoing project. Visit our website for show notes, episode trailers and bonus content “Beyond Your Horizon” at http://cthorizon.org

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