Kentucky is known as the Horse Capitol of the World, the world’s leader in Bourbon production, and its ravenous appetite for college basketball. Kentucky is rich in history and traditions, and the Meat Science program at the University of Kentucky is honoring and preserving those traditions while starting more. Recently, UK has created a new tradition by opening a retail sales area to merchandize surplus meat from research and teaching activities. The addition of the retail meat sales area has had a tremendous impact on UK’s mission.
E.J. Wilford was hired in 1918 to teach butchering at the University of Kentucky, and the very first class was offered in 1919. Therefore, next year UK will celebrate 100 years of meat science instruction. The meat from the animals that Mr. Wilford and the students processed was sold to the public, and that tradition continued until the early 1970s. The UK Meats Laboratory moved to its current location, the W.P. Garrigus Building, then known as Ag South in 1972. The retail sales area was closed after the move, due to limited space. However, that has changed; the current retail area was reopened in 2015, renamed the UK Butcher Shop and has had a positive impact on the meats program as well as the UK community.