William Angliss Institute “Meating Needs” at FoodBank

William Angliss Institute’s new Meating Needs program has been providing support to Foodbank while upskilling apprentices.

The program, which teaches Certificate III in Meat Processing (Retail Butcher) students to bone beef carcasses, has since donated 10,000 meals to FoodBank.

The initiative is a collaboration between the Institute, BeefBank, Corona Manufacturing, and the Australian Meat Industry Council.

Apprentices undergo two-day workshops where they learn the bone structure of a carcass and are taught to identify various cuts of meat.

The meat is then converted to diced beef and sausages and donated to FoodBank, which works with thousands of charities and school breakfast programs to provide meals to those in need.

Peter O’Rourke, one of the two initiators of the program, said that it was a response to the meat industry’s increasing reliance on pre-packaged meat, while contributing to charity.

“This charitable initiative enables our apprentices and teachers to contribute to the welfare of the community while empowering apprentice butchers to develop essential skills and gain a deeper understanding of the meat supply chain,” he said.

One student who has benefited from this initiative is Nick Nestorowski, who took time off work at Werribee Station Street Meats to participate in the scheme.

“It was a good learning experience plus it was a good feeling knowing that the meals I made up and packaged were donated to charity,” he said.