Today, we’d like to introduce you to Tom Wheatley.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a native of Utah and a lifelong hunter. While enjoying all aspects of hunting, butchering the wild game was always one of my favorite aspects of hunting. I spent a bit over thirty years in various corporate roles with the idea that one day, when I retired I buy a small farm and would raise and butcher pigs. Pigs seemed like the perfect animal for me as I was interested in butchery, charcuterie, sausage making, bacon making, etc.
Pigs bring all that and more. As retirement neared, we began a search for a small farm near where we lived, and after about a year of searching, we found a great spot. We bought the property in 2015. The property had a 70s-era split-level home on it and was otherwise open pasture. We wanted to build a home anyway, so originally, I thought we would have to raze the older home. The County inspector mentioned almost in passing that we didn’t have to raze it. We just couldn’t use it as an occupiable house. It would be considered a farm accessory building. Well, that was it for me. I knew that my older home would become my new meat shop.
I began to work almost immediately on outfitting my meat shop. My first and most important investment was in a walk-in cooler. Thinking of how great a cooler would be during a warm fall if I had been successful in a hunt. Also, a cooler is an absolute requirement for a proper meat shop. Around then, I read a book called “Killing It” written by Camas Davis.
Her writing tells of her dissatisfaction with industrial meat production and her interest in learning butchery. After she went to France, Camas returned to Portland, Oregon, and founded the Portland Meat Collective. (now closed). The timing of my reading of her book couldn’t have been better. She even offered to assist others (like me) if we wanted to set up our own independent meat collective. Late in 2018 I decided I would set up the Utah Meat Collective and teach butchery. There was one giant problem with my plan. I didn’t know how to butcher properly.
I was raising pigs and doing my best to butcher using books and YouTube, but I knew I needed more hands-on help. The help I needed was close. Salt Lake City is lucky to have one of only a few whole animal butcher shops in the West: Beltex Meats. I reached out to Phil Grubisa, the owner of Beltex, to see if I could apprentice at his shop. Finally, after about a year of trying, Phil offered me an eight-week opportunity to work one day per week.
It was just what I needed. I learned as much as I could in those short eight sessions. Another benefit to my time at Beltex was the friends I made. At the time, their head butcher, Michelle Cordaro, took me under her wing and showed me as much as she could. We stayed in touch after I left, and then the pandemic hit. I happened to have built a workable butcher shop, and there were lots of pigs that needed butchering. Normal butcher shops were overwhelmed with work, and Michelle agreed to come to my shop to help me butcher pigs, lots of pigs. This is where what I learned at Beltex really sunk in.
My quest for learning was not confined to my time at Beltex and with Michelle. I built my library with the best butchering and charcuterie books I could find. I worked part-time during wild game season at a nearby processor for minimal pay just to get the hands-on experience of cutting meat daily. I took the opportunity to travel to Vishon, Washington, to learn from Brandon Sheard, the Farmstead Meatsmith. I continued my education in 2023, attending a sausage short course at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
When the world started to return to normal in 2021, I officially founded the Utah Meat Collective as a 501C3 educational, not-for-profit organization. Michelle and others helped teach some of the early classes, but as time went on, I knew I had it, so I became the teacher of most of the classes. I still teach with collaborators in certain classes, but I am the primary instructor for most of the classes. Partners I work with, for example, each fall, we do farm slaughter demonstrations of both pigs and beef. I’ve raised with my friends at Heber Valley Meat, who operate a mobile slaughter truck. We invite paying guests to a slaughter workshop so they can witness the very first step in getting meat to market.
I teach all aspects of butchery, from pork, poultry (chicken and turkey), lamb, goat, and the occasional beef. I also teach fresh products like homemade bacon and fresh sausage. My classes are as small and hands-on as possible, with the intent of helping participants better connect with the food they eat. Some classes I teach are one to one so the participant gets the opportunity to do every step of the process. The group classes I offer are posted on my website (utmeat.com), but I also enjoy working with people who want a special class that fits their individual needs. I believe well-raised meat properly butchered, cured, or crafted is worlds apart from what is normally available.
My plans for the foreseeable future are to continue offering classes with the goal of teaching people about the meat they consume. I believe that we all benefit from transparent meat education. I am also always looking to expand or extend my content. I am regularly testing meat projects that I hope to turn into a class.
Right now, I am working on creating a salume/artisanal meat class. This should be a fun one for me to teach because homemade pepperoni/summer sausage is a staple at our house. (Not everything I do as a meat crafter will fit into a class). I am always trying to figure out classes that will offer value and be fun for the participants.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been smooth at all. My nature is to lean into hard challenges, and there were a bunch. The biggest struggles were to learn to be a proper pig farmer and butcher at the same time. Pigs, like most livestock, have health problems or have other care needs I needed to learn.
The best part of those challenges is I found the helpers. There are too many to list, but I got so much help from so many people when I was getting going. I still needed to do the work, but the advice and help along the way was priceless. I got help with learning to butcher, building a meat shop, building fences, how to best irrigate the pasture, and on and on and on.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar with what you do, what can you tell them about what you do?
I teach all aspects of butchery.
My classes are as small and hands-on as possible, with the intent of helping participants better connect with the food they eat. Well-raised meat properly butchered, cured, or crafted is worlds apart from what is normally available. My classes will always be small and as hands-on as possible.
Any big plans?
My plans are more of the same: continuing to offer transparent meat education. I am also always looking to expand or extend my content. I am regularly testing new projects that are new to me, at least meat projects.
Not everything I do as a meat crafter will fit into a class. I am always trying to figure out classes that will offer value and be fun for the participants.
Contact Info:
- Website: utmeat.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/utmeat/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Utah-Meat-Collective-100063743872971/?_rdr
Image Credits
Wyatt Larsen @wyattsgrams
