On the 16th of March, five students from CBS The Green attended the final of the Certified Irish Angus Beef Schools Competition. The event took place in Croke Park, where the students were interviewed and their knowledge of Irish Angus and efforts to promote it was put to the test. The Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition is about promoting Certified Irish Angus beef among farmers, retailers in the food industry and consumers. The boys focused their approach on targeting the consumer. Having progressed in the competition they now face the task of raising five calves over an 18 month period. They are faced with a new project, and will be tasked with a new theme, but the boys are never shy of a new challenge.
They will put their heart and soul into the next 18 months, their first challenge is a training day in May to be followed by a week at The Ploughing Championships in September, where they will receive their cattle and the real work will begin. The Competition received entries from all over Ireland. The boys have progressed from the initial entry via a video they produced, the interview stage out of Munster in Cork, and the all-Ireland stage in Croke Park, which 20 schools attended. The boys are now one out of five teams of finalists, and plan to win the overall prize of 2000 EURO.
They have expended vast amounts of time creating their cow jigsaw puzzle (pictured) to show the different cuts of beef and their uses. They interviewed Kerry players about their knowledge on the nutritional benefits of Irish Angus beef and found that it was a key part of their diet. On the 29th of February they hosted an Irish Angus Beef burger day to demonstrate firsthand to their fellow students how much better Irish Angus Beef tastes in comparison to other beef burgers. They have also created an app and plan to publish it to the App Store and the Play Store if they receive funding to do so.
The boys have officially won their battle for the cattle, but as they say, the war has just begun.
