Madison College opens student-run butcher shop at Truax Campus

If you’re a Madison College student or faculty members who wants to buy some fresh meat along with your notebooks, pens and pencils at the Truax Campus, now you can.

The store is part of the college’s Artisanal Modern Meat Butchery program, where students will run the arts retail corner at the Truax Campus cafeteria once a week on Monday afternoons. The shop — named the Retail Butcher Shop while class is in session — will offer items including bacon, brats and bologna. 

“We opened the shop for two reasons – to sell the meat students are cutting and earn back the cost — this class is part of their training,” Madison College culinary arts instructor and chef Paul Short says.

Short says all the meat is sourced locally, if possible, with cuts that range between $3-$20 per pound. 

The Artisanal Modern Meat Butchery program teaches students about the entire lifecycle of an animal, from agriculture to culinary arts. The full curriculum takes about a year to complete.

 In the butcher shop, students will identify, inspect and process carcasses, plus prepare and package the meat with instructor oversight. Students will also design the menu and prepare the butcher shop for a ServSafe credential.

The shop opened this week, with hours between noon-1 p.m. on Mondays.

Four other new protein purveyors have recently set up shop in Madison as well. Read the story here.