By Jessica Domel
News Editor
From the pasture to your plate, Texas beef takes a lot of hands and a lot of work.
To help consumers better understand what goes into creating a piece of Texas beef, a group of culinary and agricultural science students in Pflugerville have joined together to create the documentary True Beef, under the direction of high school chef and teacher Mike Erickson.
The film chronicles the suburban students’ experiences as they travel more than 2,000 miles across the state learning from top chefs, feedlot owners, restaurant owners, ranchers and more.
“Beef makes the world go round,” Mairany Whetstone, former John B. Connally High School student, comments in the film.
Whetstone and nine other culinary students were exposed to agriculture in a way they had never seen before as part of the classroom project.
They were able to see the full beef lifecycle and how muscle is turned into the meat they cook.
Erickson, who taught at Connally High School at the time the documentary was filmed, explains the purpose of the documentary was to help the students learn an appreciation for the number of people involved in the process and the passion of the beef industry.
“Seeing the reaction of the young people realizing, ‘This is where my hamburger comes from,’ and ‘This is how hard they have to work in rain, snow, sleet and whatever temperatures.’ Someone is out there raising the food,” Erickson said. “It was eye-opening to see these people get excited out in the country learning about where their food comes from.”
Five FFA members and agricultural science teachers from Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville also participated in the experience.
The Texas Beef Council, former Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, Donnell Brown of the R.A. Brown Ranch, Tom Perini from Perini Family Steakhouse and others all appear in the documentary to share the importance of the beef industry and raising quality Texas cattle.
“You can’t talk about beef without talking about cattle,” Erickson explains in the documentary.
The film shows the students’ joys as they cook with beef and their passion for the protein as they learn how to cut it and determine what the best use of that piece of beef is.
Aaron Franklin from Franklin Barbecue and Skeeter Miller from County Line also lend their expertise to the students in the documentary to help them translate their talents and passion into their best work both in and out of the classroom.
“As a chef, it’s really important to understand where your food comes from and not only understand the differences in quality, but also to respect the people who are actually putting their lives on the line in trying to produce a product they can sell to the marketplace,” Erickson said. “I think it’s really important to connect with local farmers and ranchers, especially in Texas, to promote Texas agriculture.”
True Beef is now available for rent or purchase on https://vimeo.com/ondemand/truebeef.
Erickson says he is working with the Texas Beef Council to hopefully create some DVDs so the film may be shown in classrooms across the state and possibly the nation.