Adopting and implementing the recommendations of the artisanal butchery task force

This bill adopts and implements the recommendations of the artisanal butchery task force (task force), established pursuant to 2021 Iowa Acts, chapter 175, section 2, as issued in its final report to the general assembly on December 30, 2021. The bill requires the department of education (department), in collaboration with the state board of education, to establish a framework, no later than December 31, 2022, for a one-year community college (college) certificate program for artisanal butchery that is based on the recommendations in the task force final report, and the department shall provide the framework to all colleges established under Code chapter 260C. A college that elects to establish a certificate program shall use the framework provided by the department as the minimum requirements, and may modify the curriculum based on the unique circumstances of the specific college. As detailed in the bill, the college shall obtain approval of its certificate program prior to implementation of the program. No later than December 31, 2022, the bill requires the department of workforce development (workforce development), in collaboration with the economic development authority (authority), to develop and maintain a library of resources that serves as a single resource point at which any Iowa-based business involved in meat processing may obtain education and financial assistance information as detailed in the bill.1B(14) no later than July 31, 2022. The department of agriculture and land stewardship (DALS) is required to collaborate with Iowa state university extension and outreach to develop and maintain a direct-to-consumer tool kit that contains, at a minimum, the information detailed in the task force’s final report. The tool kit shall be posted on DALS’s internet site no later than December 31, 2022. The bill requires DALS to develop and maintain a directory of meat lockers in Iowa that provides the location of, and the contact information for, each locker in the directory. The directory must be posted on DALS’s internet site no later than December 31, 2022.