Every Buy is a Learning Lesson

Students in the Meat Aisle

Students from Lamar Community College, led by faculty member, Curtis Temple, will visit various sites around the region each fall, to help round out their agriculture studies with an in-the-field classroom assignment. This time, the field was at Safeway, East Olive Street in Lamar.

The Deli Department Was Next on the List

About a dozen students and Temple were gathered around the meat aisle on Thursday morning, August 31^st, as Temple handed out paperwork and detailed their assignment.  Once they were through, the students broke into smaller groups and spread out around parts of the store.

Temple explained, “This is part of their livestock practicum class this week. Every Thursday, the class visits a different area to learn a new aspect of agriculture.”  He said, “This is a one-time visit to the store as we will switch and visit a veterinarian clinic one week, or a feedlot or a feedmill, a livestock operation…each place offers hands-on experience for the students.”  The class at Safeway, he said, was in conjunction with their animal science studies.

He said the students will study the selections to break down the cuts, protein content, grades, values and costs of each selection. The assignment was to get an idea of the types of animal meats on offer from the fresh meat department, frozen food, canned products and the deli to get a general idea of the products that are on offer.  “Once they get back to class at the end of their semester they’ll turn in their written handbooks with all the practical experience they gained.”  Temple said the study wasn’t so much of how to stretch a food dollar as to get an idea of how the cuts of meat come from the different sections of the carcass, whether it’s wholesale beef, pork or poultry.

He said Safeway has been accommodating for the Thursday classes each fall and at the same time; it’s a chance for the LCC students to represent their college while they’re in the field.

By Russ Baldwin