Each year, a team of Purdue students put on Ag Week on the West Lafayette campus. It’s an annual celebration of agriculture that brings together students and industry professionals to learn, network, and have fun. On Wednesday, the annual Burger Bash was held on Purdue’s Memorial Mall.
“This year we provided 1,900 burgers for this event to be handed out to students and while we’re here at the Expo, we get to interact with all of them who come through to get their burgers,” explains Hannah Gee, education and industry relations director for the Indiana Beef Cattle Association.
At their booth, Gee says they focused this year on explaining the different cuts of beef and where those cuts come from.
“We have a diagram where students can actually be interactive with pinning the cuts on the cow, talking to them about different recipes, and it’s been really fun to see them figure that puzzle out.”
Think of it as pin the tail on the donkey but instead, they’re pinning the brisket on the cow’s chest. And she says it wasn’t easy for many of the students.
“You’d be amazed how many students don’t even know where to start when they’re looking at a cow and they pick up a sirloin piece and they don’t even know what part it comes from. So, it’s a really great educational opportunity to start from the front of the cow, work to the back, and be able to help them place those cows, and then when they’re at the grocery store they can say, ‘Oh, I remember this part comes from this part of the cow. Here’s how I can cook it’, those types of things.”
Jeanette Merritt, director of communications for Indiana Pork and a pork producer herself from Miami County, says they are grateful for the opportunity to educate thousands of Purdue students that come through, and those students ask some interesting questions.
“They’ve asked me, ‘What’s your tie to pork?’ So, when I tell them I actually do raise pigs, they’re completely blown away by that, partly because I don’t think that’s what they picture a farmer to be. And so, they definitely want to understand why we raise pigs in Indiana, why we want to be farmers. I have had some crazy ones too wanting to know what exactly is a sow and how’s it different than a heifer and a mare. So, there’s been some very basic knowledge that has to be shared, but a lot of kids that really just want a better understanding.”
Ag Week continues Thursday as students and industry professionals work to “Hammer Down Hunger”. Their goal is to pack over 70,000 meals to help address food insecurity in the Greater Lafayette area.
