JBS Global Food Innovation Center in Honor of Gary and Kay Smith (GFIC)

HISTORY: In 1959, the current Animal Sciences Building, which now includes the Meat Laboratory, was completed. The facilities included an abattoir, cooler, cutting and processing room, freezer, taste panel room, and kitchen.  In 1993, the abattoir portion of the meat facility in the Animal Sciences Building was converted to a carcass-viewing classroom to accommodate larger classes and to provide needed teaching space. Along with removing the livestock harvesting facilities from campus, an outside meat processing facility was purchased and used for slaughter needs associated with teaching and research until 2006.  In 2013 a fundraising campaign was approved and design began on a food processing building to include harvest, fresh meat processing, ready-to-eat processing, retail sales, student commons areas, a culinary facility, sensory evaluation, chemistry laboratories, offices, conference rooms and a carcass viewing classroom adjacent to the newly remodel Animal Sciences Building.  After a lead gift from JBS U.S.A., construction started on the JBS Global Food Innovation Center In honor of Gary and Kay Smith and was completed in December 2018.

CENTER FOR MEAT SAFETY AND QUALITY: The multidisciplinary nature of the Meat Science Program at Colorado State involves expertise in meat-animal behavior and handling; meat-animal growth and development; meat-animal carcass composition, quality, evaluation, classification and grading; meat chemistry; meat processing and restructuring; meat microbiology, preservation, and safety; nutritional aspects of meat; and extension activities to communicate to the public the relationship of meat consumption to human health, as well as safe meat-product handling and preparation. This all allows our group to be among the top programs in the United States.

WHERE WE SOURCE: Ram Country Meats works with every facet of the meat industry, both large and small processing plants. The primary focus of this facility is to educate our students about all parts of meat science and the meat industry. There are many courses offered by the Department of Animal Sciences that teach meat processing, meat safety, and meat quality. When possible, we process livestock from local farmers and ranchers or our own University livestock facilities . We even purchase animals from local 4-H and FFA chapters in the Front Range area. Depending on demand, both from departmental courses and customers, we will acquire boxed product or meat primals, often from Greeley, Colorado. As educators and researchers within the meat science industry, we work very closely with large animal protein companies, and have the upmost confidence in their food safety, meat quality, and animal welfare standards.   We have many faculty with expertise in animal nutrition, breeding and genetics, food safety, microbiology and animal welfare that support the efforts of the JBS Global Food Innovation Center in Honor of Gary and Kay Smith.

Animals that we process were fed a mixture of both grass and grains throughout their lifespan. At this time, we do not offer 100% grass fed, All Natural, or Organic products.