JEFFERSON COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) – School and county officials gathered at the Jeff Institute of Technology to host a groundbreaking celebration for “Farm to Refrigerator,” a project to teach students about meat processing.
Slaughtering is the process of cutting up an animal and processing it for human consumption. Many in the industry are aging now, so Jefftech hopes adding this program to schools will help people get involved and make an impact in their communities.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for communities to revitalize agriculture and change how they buy meat, how they feed their families, and actually provide jobs for their families,” Jeff Tech Director Barry Fillman said.
U.S. Congressman Glenn Thompson also attended the groundbreaking ceremony. Thompson helped the school get much-needed funding. The project is expected to cost approximately $2.4 million in total. Thompson said this opportunity is unique and he has traveled all over the country and state and is now proud to have this opportunity at Jeff Tech.
“I've never seen anything quite like this in all my travels,” Thompson said. “This is huge in terms of support for agriculture, which is Pennsylvania's No. 1 industry. But they recognized years ago that there was a food insecurity problem when it came to the meat processing industry. I did.”
Fillman said the program will also help fill gaps in the industry and create new opportunities in the field.
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“Part of the congestion has always been people working it out. People are taking it out of state, people are waiting a very long time to cut it. And they're growing it here. , if we can carve here and sell here, we can bring all our business here,” Fillman said.
The school hopes to be able to open the doors to the new building by next school year.
