Loving When Relaxation Ends and Work Begins

By Galen Iverstine

LSU Ag Leadership Class XVII

Being away from home and work life for four days now I realize this is the longest I’ve been away from the grind in quite a while.  This is the point in a trip where it really starts to feel like vacation.  Although the tours and meetings are very informational and this is technically a ‘work’ trip, the sites, experiences, food, and late night rooftop bar hopping in the old town  with classmates allows a level of relaxation. My trust in my team to handle the day to day operations back home begins to kick in, and other than missing my beautiful wife and sweet kids terribly,  I’m really enjoying the break from day to day and have removed myself from all things meat production.  Until today. 

Before leaving Panama City this morning to head to Santiago were given the opportunity  to tour the city’s seafood market and Mercado San Felipe.  A hub of culinary ingredients ranging from specialty spices to a vast array of fruits and vegetables displayed in small stalls neatly arranged in rows.  We then went over to the protein side of the market which is similarly arranged but in an old train depot that has been renovated into a meat market.  

Each vendor specializes in a particular protein and all seem to have a different technique in cutting. After making my rounds I stumbled onto a pork stall and a big jovial guy named Luis behind the counter strikes up a conversation.  Well, as much of a conversation that my high school level Spanish will allow.  I explain to him that I own a butcher shop back in the states and show him pictures of our Instagram page and he sees a video of our butchers breaking down a shoulder of a pig.  He stops and says ‘Mira’ (look or look here) and grabs the shoulder of a pig sitting next to it and starts to breakdown the picnic portion of the shoulder in a way I had never seen much less considered.   At that moment My brain switched from vacation mode back to meat processing and got me excited to share these techniques with my staff and be able to share different cuts with my customers back home. 

After visiting with Luis for a while longer I began to explore the market more intently and pay attention to how customers were ordering and how the butchers prepared certain cuts.  Customers seem to order for just what is for dinner that night and the butchers get really creative on how to make their stall look a little different from the neighboring vendor. This made me really appreciate the craft as a global trade and how all individuals in the industry are the key link in connecting the farms to consumers by making the product more approachable and creating the best eating experience possible for the end user.  

I tried to escape my reality for a few days and put work on the side, but what I’ve realized is that I truly love what I do.  It’s a rewarding life to be a conduit of a farmer’s talents and hard work.  To be the farmers representative of their product to public.  Thank you to Luis for showing passion for the trade and being a true craftsman. I guess the old adage about loving what you do  is true.