Golden Apple: Kelliher Public School Meat Processing Class Serves Burgers to School

The month of May is celebrated as National Beef Month to recognize the importance of the beef industry and to honor the hard work of cattle farmers and ranchers. Students in Kelliher High School’s Meat Processing class wanted to celebrate the occasion by serving the entire school burgers for lunch that were prepared by the class, and those student can say they are a part of something that is pretty unique.

“This is one of a handful of high schools in the state of Minnesota that is currently processing meat, and one of maybe two or three that are actually processing meat for the lunchroom,” explained Amy Mastin, Kelliher Public School Agriculture Teacher.

And these students are doing everything that’s involved in the process—well, almost everything.

“They’re doing it all from raising the cattle, they’re not doing the slaughtering though, but they are USDA processed,” added Mastin. “And then they’re grinding the burgers and all of the stuff that they need to do.”

Once the students finish prepping enough meat to feed the entire school, all of it then gets sent to the lunchroom. Students from grades K-12 all lined up and grabbed a tray full of food that was grown locally in the agriculture class, and it was safe to say that the students enjoyed their meal.

“I think the burgers are really good today, and I’m happy to enjoy a homegrown meal that the school provided for us, and I was happy to see how many students enjoyed it today,” said Angela, a 10th grader at Kelliher Public School.

“It tastes very real as opposed to some other cafeteria foods that we’ve had,” said 11th grader Allison. “I think it’s just good to incorporate that food into the cafeteria.”

This isn’t the first time the meat processing class has cooked for the school, either. Throughout this last year, those students made heart-shaped sausage patties, spaghetti and meatballs, and walleye fish tacos for the entire school. Students are enjoying the food so much, in fact, that teachers are constantly asked when the next time the meat processing class will serve the school lunch.

“It is so nice to see that kids are not just eating that fresh, but they are enjoying it and they’re asking for it,” Mastin added. “They asked for the special lettuce when we have it, so I think they really enjoy the fresh versus packaged and processed. They can taste the difference.”

Students in the meat processing class not only learn a thing or two about properly preparing different cuts of meat, but they also get to help out their community while doing so.

“I didn’t really know how to cook a steak to perfection, so I kind of learn that this year,” said Billy Jack, a senior in Kelliher’s Meat Processing class, “It’s kind of like waking up and showing people what you can do in the school and like helping feed the community, it’s pretty dope.”

Staff at Kelliher Public School told Lakeland News that it’s their hope to bring as many farm-to-table lunches like this to their students as possible in the near future, with the goal of having access to farm-to-table lunches throughout the entire year.