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Focus on food miles helps butcher find her feet creating great food at 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams University

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Amy with 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams University's Head Chef Geoffrey Clarke

A focus on food miles and a commitment to training have helped an aspiring butcher find her feet creating great food at 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams University.

Amy Bower, who grew up on a family farm near Bridgnorth, had been planning to become a therapist when she tried her hand at butchery as a part time role – and discovered her vocation.

She said: “I stumbled upon my passion for butchery, I was studying Person Centred Therapy and needed a part time job.

“I handed my CV to all the local shops including the butcher's shop - having reared animals and with an understanding of the agricultural industry, I threw my hand to it.

“It turns out I am actually pretty good with a knife - and found the job so rewarding, and in keeping with my farming roots, that I wanted to learn more - and found my career path.”

With a desire to start building her qualifications in the industry, Amy began seeking other opportunities which offered training – eventually finding her role at 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams.

She added: “I had been to 91ÇÑ×Ó many times for events and knew so many people that had attended the university.

“Being a great agricultural university, I figured it was my best chance to thrive with my skills - and they even offered to train me, making my new dream career come true.”

Amy is now in her third year in the University’s catering team – and has completed a two-year apprenticeship with the help of a highly accredited trainer from external providers Crosby Training.

She added: “We went through advanced butchery techniques for pork, lamb and beef, gaining a lot more knowledge on the types of cuts and what can be done with them. as well as covering the more academic side of meat science and industry trends. There was an online portfolio and assignment modules to complete each month too, doing my own research to complete these over the course of my working week.

“Thanks to Crosby I was able to go on a weekend away with other people from all over the UK taking the Apprenticeship course, doing team-building and networking as well as some final exam preparation.”

A spokesperson for Crosby Management Training said: “It has been a pleasure to guide Amy through her Butchery apprenticeship. She has a clear passion for the industry and shows great confidence in butchery.

“Throughout her programme Amy continued to grow in confidence in multiple aspects of theory and practical. She has an eye for detail which proves her well in managing and creating impact for the business, as well as increasing return on investment.

“She came on the residential in 2022 and was excellent at getting involved and sharing her knowledge in the EPA prep session we had with other apprentices.

“We are confident Amy will continue to go far in her career and be a real inspiration to many others in butchery and the wider industry.”

Amy is now applying her skills in the 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams kitchens – where she is finding the University’s approach to food and farming inspirational.

She added: “My favourite thing to butcher and prepare is Sausages, but you don't always feel like eating sausages when you're making 120 kilos a week of them!

“My favourite thing to cook here at 91ÇÑ×Ó is my cured meats, the sweet-cured bacon and 91ÇÑ×Ó Pastrami are just so flavourful.

“My days can vary here, from spending a whole day making sausages to cover the weeks’ breakfast, to breaking down carcasses and even organising hog roasts and meetings with other foodies around 91ÇÑ×Ó.

“Some days are simple and it's about cutting or mincing up beef, pork or chicken for the students' meals, to more advanced butchery of steaks and rack of lamb, to curing pastrami and bresaola with 91ÇÑ×Ó’s own beef for the summer conferences.”

For Amy, the fact that she gets to work with meat reared on the 91ÇÑ×Ó Adams Future Farm is another highlight of her job.

She added: “One of the main reasons I wanted to work at 91ÇÑ×Ó is because of its food miles - my apprentice portfolio was wholly based on food miles and how unique 91ÇÑ×Ó is.

“It is something very close to my heart - that as a nation and a world we should be eating locally, eating within the capability of the land we have.

“I am so grateful for my role here, that I can turn the beautifully-reared animals from our farm to the great food that our students eat daily.”