Getting Into the Meat of the Watauga Foods Program

Mr. Braswell standing in the kitchen of his Foods classroom. Mr. Braswell is in his first year of teaching at the high school. He has been a student of the culinary arts since he was 14 and has always enjoyed butchery. “I think butchery is one of the most fascinating parts. I love watching something go from being an animal into what we eat, and being able to have full ultimate control over the waste and how it's utilized.” (Photo Credits: Jax Marsh)

Jax Marsh, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

No one can mistake the enticing scent of a grilled, medium-rare, juicy steak. Sitting on a silver platter, it’s enough to make anyone’s mouth water. Before you dig in, you stop and ask yourself, “Am I eating steak… or a cow?” Through a demonstration of the butchery of a deer, Mr. Braswell showed his students what they’re eating. He gave them an inside look at how the meat that you eat every day gets on your dinner table.

Mr. Braswell is a first-year culinary teacher at Watauga High School this year. Braswell grew up close to Boone, in Avery County. He started out in the culinary industry at 14 years old and, through dedication and skill, obtained a successful job at age 15. Through what Braswell describes as a “combination of hard work and pure luck,” he has worked his way up to his current teaching position.

Braswell will perform multiple demonstrations of the butchering of deer. His first demonstration happened recently on November 25, 2025, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Break. Braswell will perform two more butchery demonstrations before Winter Break, where he will give his students more insight into the topic.

“Hunting is a very big part of the culture around here,” said Braswell, “but also when you go to the store and you buy a package of chicken, unless you grew up slaughtering your own chickens, you don’t have that intimate understanding. You're just buying food.”

Braswell has had prior butchering experience that prepared him for his deer demonstration. Braswell has butchered larger animals than deer, such as a cow, during his culinary studies. He hopes that the deer itself will help students connect to the topic. 

“This is more than food. And I think that the deer, seeing something that large and watching the whole process of it getting broken down into primals and the burger into steaks and whatnot, really gives more of an understanding of where our food comes from,” Braswell said.

Because of legal stipulations, Braswell cannot distribute the meat of the deer because of its classification as wild game. Instead, he has to dump the waste. However, Braswell believes that the future holds more opportunities for butchering at Watauga High School.

“I'm hoping I can get the funding. I would like to do the same thing with lamb,” said Braswell. “Since lamb's not wild game, we would be able to serve all of that. So, the idea behind that would be the same thing, learning where our food comes from, watching it turn from animal into what we know as food.”

Braswell believes that the introduction of the butchery of lamb could provide new and exciting opportunities for students to learn.

“But then taking that step further and having the students look into different cuisines that utilize different cuts of meat or specifically what cuts of meat they use from the lamb, figuring out the best cooking practices for that cut of meat, and assigning that to the specific region and making food from wherever,” said Braswell. “So Mediterranean, African- all of that fun stuff.”

Braswell has made exciting changes to the Watauga Foods program. He has already introduced new forms of culinary production, and with adequate funding and resources, could transform the foods classroom experience for students. His interest in butchery will influence future food events and help students understand where their food comes from.

“I really do enjoy butchering. It's fascinated me since I got into the industry. I don't know if it's specifically just seeing what it looks like beforehand or having control over all of the waste or a combination thereof, but I do love butchery,” Braswell said. “I mean, it’s one of the most ancient forms of cookery. It's evolved since humans knew how to build a fire.”