Where is the next generation of local butchers and meat processors coming from?  It's a question Wisconsin's struggled with since before the pandemic - and still struggles.  It's a rigorous business that requires skill and is heavily monitored because you're dealing with people's food!

Now, Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, as well as the Wisconsin Technical College System, have developed curriculum for a new "Meat Talent Certificate".

Kaitlin Spierings, Instructor at FVTC, says the certificate's been in the works for a while, but due to the collaboration and the pandemic - it's taken time to get finalized.  The goal is an 8 credit certificate that could be completed in as little as a semester with little time actually spent in the classroom.  She says FVTC has found that certificates are very popular with students because of the shorter term, intense training. 

The curriculum encompasses not only agriculture, but also the culinary side of FVTC.  Spierings says they're hoping to have their first class underway for the spring of 2023.