From Gate to Plate: Arizona Culinary Institute Students Explore the World of Beef
TIFFANY SELCHOW, DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL MARKETING AND CONSUMER OUTREACH | June 5, 2024
A recent bright May morning brought together students from the Arizona Culinary Institute, Arizona Beef Council staff, and an executive beef chef for a day filled with beef and beef education. This Gate to Plate tour is an annual event, allowing students at this prestigious culinary school, the last of its kind in Arizona, to tour the JBS, Tolleson Beef Harvesting Plant and learn about beef and flavor combinations.
The agenda first took participants to the JBS plant for a thorough tour of this multifaceted operation. Tour guides Alice McDonald and Kevin Whitehurst gave a walking tour of the entire plant from the ground beef facility and the shipping warehouse to the cooler and the harvesting floor. JBS provides headsets to ensure the tour participants could hear the tour guides said, even with loud machinery running in the background.
Upon the tour's conclusion, we returned to the Arizona Beef Council office, where attendees enjoyed a steak lunch. Then, Chef Paul Schutt, executive chef, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff Program, presented about the culinary aspects of beef. He covered the difference between taste (basic tastes on your tongue: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami) and flavor (the blend of aroma, texture, mouth feel, and taste). These definitions help the students fully understand how vital their future menuing choices are for their clientele.
During Chef Paul's interactive presentation, the students were given the chance to experience differences in taste and flavors firsthand by tasting various items. They tested different quality grades of steaks, steaks prepared with different cooking methods which showed the benefits of the Maillard reaction, beef broth alone versus beef broth with fish sauce added, and more. A special taste test with Skittles was also demonstrated, engaging all their senses. This hands-on learning experience was designed to help them fully understand the difference between taste and flavor, and the importance of aroma, texture, mouth feel and taste in culinary creations.
These future culinary professionals shared that their culinary inspiration comes from their love of food, to reduce food waste, and to recreate fond family memories that centered around food. Their aspirations include owning a restaurant and food trucks, exploring pastry, becoming a private chef, and catering.
Tour participants left with a goodie bag full of Beef. It's What's for Dinner. promotion items and a cast iron skillet, all carefully chosen to enhance their culinary journey and remind them of the valuable lessons they learned during the event. Each participant was asked to do a pre and post tour survey to measure the effectiveness of the tour. This group came into the tour with a positive perception of beef to start, returning to school with 80% reporting they will choose beef as often or more often than other proteins.
A hearty thank you to the Iowa Beef Industry Council for funding this program.
About the Beef Checkoff Program
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States may retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA Approval. For more information, visit BeefBoard.org.
About the Arizona Beef Council
The Arizona Beef Council is a non-profit organization served by a Governor-appointed nine-member board of directors representing cattle growers, cattle feeders, and dairy farmers. These volunteers oversee Arizona’s Beef Checkoff-funded programs.
About the Iowa Beef Industry Council
The Iowa Beef Industry Council is funded by the $1-per-head national Beef Checkoff Program and the $0.50-per-head Iowa State Beef Checkoff. Checkoff dollars are invested in beef promotion, consumer information, research, industry information and foreign market development, all with the purpose of strengthening beef demand. For more information, visit iabeef.org.