Tom Wheatley

Tom didn’t grow up dreaming of starting a meat collective—but once he saw the gap, he couldn’t ignore it. What began as a personal mission to raise and butcher his own pigs turned into the Utah Meat Collective: a place where everyday folks can get their hands on real, honest butchery skills. Armed with years of hunting experience, a home-built butcher shop, and a deep respect for animals, Tom teaches with humility and purpose. He’s not here to sell you meat—he’s here to show you how to truly understand it.

Where do you live?
Spanish Fork, Utah

How long has your meat collective been running?
Since early 2021

Why did you start your meat collective?
Acquiring the skills to be a competent home butcher was very difficult. My original plan was to gain the skills to raise and butcher my own livestock for personal use. Acquiring those butchering skills was a journey. While on that journey, I read Killing It by Camas Davis, who started the Portland Meat Collective. Once I read and understood what Camas had started in Portland, I just knew that’s what I needed to do. My "why" was very much aligned with Camas’s. Around the same time, I was reading and listening to Joel Salatin. His viewpoint is that industrial agriculture hasn’t done a good job looking out for the animals’ well-being, our well-being, or the environment.

So the Utah Meat Collective became about two things:

• Sharing the idea that better meat is an option for folks who are interested
• Teaching others the necessary skills for home meat harvest or production. There's a way to be more involved in producing the meat you eat.

How do you define your Good Meat® values?
I borrowed a phrase from Camas: I offer transparent meat education. I think there’s a lot of partial truths and actual misinformation around good meat, farming, and ingredients used in meat products.

Why do you use meat for your classes that aligns with those values?
My integrity is important to me and the story I am telling. I also recognize that not everyone is coming at this from the same place. We all have different values, financial limitations, space constraints, availability, and proximity to local processors, etc. So my message is: “Here is the goal—let's all do the best we can.” I can’t grow all of the meat I use for my classes. I have relationships with local processors who slaughter pork weekly. I source my pork locally. I don't know the entire story of every cut of meat I use in the collective, but I do the best that I can.

Where and when did your journey into butchering Good Meat® start?
I grew up hunting wild game. I still very much enjoy hunting and the outdoors. I was always drawn to butchering. On those occasions when I successfully killed a big game animal, the butchering, packaging, and cooking of the harvest were the most meaningful parts of hunting for me.

I got the idea years ago that I wanted to raise and butcher pigs. So, as I neared retirement from 30 years in a corporate job, we bought a small farm and I started raising pigs. I also built out a small butcher shop and a walk-in cooler. At the time, I intended this for personal use and for family and friends. Soon I discovered I needed a LOT of training to be a good hog butcher, so I found ways to get that education. I worked cutting wild game in the fall at a small local custom shop. I was able to be a stage at Beltex, a whole animal butcher shop in Salt Lake. I traveled to a workshop in Vashon, Washington, where Brandon Sheard, the Farmstead Meatsmith, was doing hands-on workshops. I traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, and attended a short course on ground meat products at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I traveled to Camont in France and spent a week there specifically focused on charcuterie.

My journey started as a kid helping my dad butcher deer. The journey will never be over—there's always something new to learn or master.

What is one thing you wish more consumers knew about buying or using meat?
Raw meat isn't filthy, gross, or infested with germs. We need to respect the nature of meat and practice safe food handling, storage, and preparation. I wish more people would go out, buy a whole chicken, and break it down themselves. And save the bones! Make some stock—it's easy and delicious, plus we owe it to the life the animal gave to use as much as possible.

What meat, or meat dish, do you eat most regularly and what do you eat for a special occasion?
My favorite meat we raise is chicken. My wife and I are empty nesters; on average, we eat ½ to a whole home-raised chicken each week. The difference in flavor between farm-raised, home-processed chicken and industrial poultry is remarkable. I’ve raised my own poultry for at least 10 years, and I am still amazed by how good they taste.

For a special occasion, I love to cook porchetta. I raise one pig each year and split it with a friend. I harvest the pig at a slightly smaller weight and use it for specialty cuts and charcuterie. I focus on three items: prosciutto, porchetta, and capicola, as well as most of our cured salami, which comes from this pig.

What cut of meat do you think is most undervalued or underutilized?
The shank or hock of any animal, wild or domestic. Cooked slowly in stock and wine, they are truly spectacular table fare.

What is one of your biggest challenges as a Good Meat butcher and educator?
My biggest challenge is marketing. Finding the right way to let folks know I’m here and what I’m doing, I think, will be a never-ending challenge.

What are some songs you listen to while butchering? (Song Title and Artist)

• Welcome to the Hard Times – Charley Crockett
• Sleeping on the Blacktop – Colter Wall
• Highwayman – The Highwaymen
• In Spite of Ourselves – John Prine

What do you hope to offer in the next 5 years through your meat collective?
I will continue to offer more hands-on slaughter and butchering classes, specifically for chickens, turkeys, and pigs. I also want to offer more charcuterie classes.

In the next five years, I’d really love to see one or two new meat collectives started from my roots. I’m mentoring a couple of younger folks who have the passion and are gaining experience. Hopefully, one or both are able to take it further.