The Longview, Texas, High School multi-million dollar meat lab is up and running, and students are ready to learn about how to age and cut meat. The lab will also help them prepare for work as a butcher or foodservice manager, reports the Longview News-Journal.
The lab is the only facility of its kind east of Interstate 45, agriculture and science instructor John Denson said. The lab is aligned with similar facilities at Texas Tech, Tarleton and Texas A&M universities, he added.
The Lab, which costs $2.2 million to build, features a smoke room, a harvest floor and state-of-the-art processing and packaging equipment. The lab also includes an instruction room for the 175 students in various agriculture and animal science classes as well as an office for Denson. Denson is preparing a HACCP plan in order to get the lab certified by the USDA.
Dekaylon Dudley, who is president of the school’s FFA, said he hopes to get a scholarship after taking meat processing and agriculture classes at the new lab.
“I’m hoping meat processing gets me into college,” he said. “I’d like to study agriculture and architecture in college.”
