The Introduction to Meat Services course prepares students for safe, hands-on work in the meat services industry. Students learn workplace safety, food handling requirements, hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) basics, and knife care. Students explore retail and wholesale career paths

The equipment course provides an introduction to the different types of equipment in the meat industry, how to safely use each of them, and how to care for them. This course also covers proper equipment use, maintenance, assembly, and disassembly. This course introduces equipment such as the grinder, tenderizer, and the smoker and gives students the opportunity to work with these tools.

The Beef Cutting I course introduces the basic principles of beef cutting and provides basic skills necessary to work in the meat cutting industry and provides an opportunity for students to work hands-on in the lab. It covers beef harvesting and identification of various beef cuts and how to break carcasses into wholesale parts. This course also covers basic beef retail and sanitation skills.

The Beef Cutting II course focuses on and reinforces improving basic skills and principles of beef cutting from the Beef Cutting I course. It provides an opportunity for students to work hands-on in the lab as they work through the process of custom cutting and learning the best practices of cooking each type of beef cut.

The Pork and Lamb Cutting Course introduces the basic principles of pork and lamb cutting and provides basic skills necessary to work in retail meat cutting. Students gain realistic experiences working with pork and lamb in a laboratory setting. This course covers breaking carcasses into wholesale parts, including primal and sub-primal cuts. It introduces best practices for cooking pork and lamb, and how to demonstrate competency in preparing to assist customers in a shop.

The Value Added Products course focuses on and reinforces improving basic skills and principles of meat cutting, and allows students to work with other meats and cuts. With such a wide variety of meats available, this course teaches students how to apply what they have learned in the other courses and allows them to practice those skills with miscellaneous cuts. Covers working with seasonal and custom cuts.

The Packaging and Presentation course introduces the basic principles of meat packaging and presentation. It covers how to prepare retail cuts of meat from carcass animals or boxed products independently and how to label and price the products. This course teaches students retail procedures, including packaging, pricing, and displaying products in a retail environment.

The Retail course introduces the basic principles of meat retail. It covers essential knowledge of retail procedures, including packaging, pricing, displaying products, and customer service in a retail environment. Develops and strengthens skills in the Packaging and Presentation course. Prepares students for work with customers in a shop, learning proper customer service skills, such as greeting customers, answering customer questions, and operating a point-of-sale system.

The Meat Services Externship course develops the practical application of classroom skills through real-world workplace situations. Implements real-world work experience using decision-making, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Real client business projects will be assigned to the students by cooperative businesses, and students will receive objective input on their performance. Customized student learning objectives will be developed, addressing the individual needs of the organization and career interests of each student.