This lil' piggy went to market, this lil' piggy stayed home...

Polk-A-Dot

 Disney's 'The Lion King' taught me years ago about the circle of life. The father lion poetically explained to his son how the lion eats the antelope, and when the mighty lion dies it is returned to the earth to feed the grass, that the antelope then eats. Thus creating the circle of life...we live, we eat, we die. Grasping the true meaning of this leads to a better appreciation of where our food comes from.

Our latest batch of finishing hogs reached slaughter weight last week. They are from Wiggles previous litter, a group of six, five boys and one girl. The five brothers made the trip south to Acre Station Meat Farm. This is an USDA/ Animal Welfare Approved slaughter facility in NC. The only sister stayed here with us. Polk-a-Dot, named for the black dot over her left eye, is now a 'diva' in our breeding herd. She will become a beloved, spoiled member of our farm family. The others will become a delectable, gourmet meal, to be appreciated and enjoyed.

One of the 5 boys.

The "some go, some stay" aspect of farming is dynamic and took me awhile to accept personally. We spend so much diligent time and thought raising all of our animals, only to see most of them off to the slaughter house. How can you eat something you raised? That question is posed to me on a regular basis. It's a very complex feeling/emotion but I'll do my best to explain. The answer is three fold and goes like this,

1. My family's health is paramount. All parents are inundated with news reports and warnings about what is in our children's food. The red dye found in highly processed hot dogs, cortisol (a stress hormone) residues found in the meat of over stressed livestock, the common practice of irradiating meat in processing facilities, the list of concerns goes on and on. I feed and care for these animals every day so I know they have not been given antibiotics, treated with growth hormones or been mistreated.  The butchery's we use, such as The Weeping Radish,  are small, family owned and operated businesses that exhibit our same high expectations of quality and food safety.

Muddy pigs are happy pigs!

2. Because I love animals. This is the explanation that confuses people. How can you love animals and raise them for slaughter? Simple, do a quick Google search of  "Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations" and see how mass produced pigs live. With ZERO access to green pasture and very little room to move around, these animals can not be happy. This misery certainly effects the resulting pork product. Think of it in human terms, for the most part people who are miserable are sickly and not well, those who are happy tend to be healthy and active. Who knows which comes first, the misery or the illness, but the correlation definitely exsists. Pigs are one of the top five most intelligent animals, ranking much higher than dogs. The general public would never stand for dogs to be mass produced under these conditions. For the time that our finishing pigs (those that will go to slaughter) are with us, they are guaranteed a happy, stress free life. To further ensure their well being, we use a slaughter facility that is certified by AWA as well. Thus, ensuring the humane treatment of our pigs for the brief time they are out of our care. So, because I love animals, I want to be certain no animal was miserable and suffered for me to enjoy a sausage biscuit. A side note, I'm not as fanatical as I should be on this subject, because I still eat out and consume fast food. I guess its like recycling, we could all do more, but some is better than none.

One of the piggies, last July

3. I'm not a vegetarian, I applaud those who are. If I were, it would erase all my personal dilemmas with truly "knowing" my food and we would be raising crops, not critters. However, corn and wheat sprouts would not be as adorable as our baby pigs and goats, and not nearly as entertaining! Since we do eat meat, we have put all efforts into producing a superior product. If I'm gonna raise and eat it, it's gonna be great!! I do love meat, in fact, my personal opinion is that bacon should have its own section on the food pyramid!

Berkshire, a.k.a. "kurobuta" pork chop

Now back to the little piggies that went to market. They were born right here on our farm. From day one, they had lots of room to roam, root and play. Their mommy was not locked in a steel crate, unable to turn around, like is done on commercial hog farms, despite the fact that she has tried to kill us a time or two. She is extremely protective and becomes "hogzilla" when she has babies, see A baker's dozen of little piggies from 1-5-13. The five that went to market took eight months to reach an average of 300 pounds. Commercial hogs reach slaughter weight in about half that time. Allowing our pigs to grow slowly, at natures pace, allows for the true pork flavor and texture to develop. Pork chops from our Berkshire pigs are deep red and well marbled, looking more like a ribeye steak than the chops you see in regular groceries. And the flavor, all I can say is Wow....no gravy needed!

Happily rooting for acorns in a natural pig environment.

These were happy, healthy pigs that spent their numbered days blissfully rooting for acorns and wallowing in mud holes. Allen and I together loaded them up and took them to market, said our goodbyes to them and left, knowing they were in responsible hands. In a few days we will return to retrieve about 1,000 pounds of premium pork products to be served by local restaurants, sold at our on farm stand and enjoyed by our family and friends. I can truly enjoy this pork, knowing it is safe to eat and was humanly raised. Though these five pigs days were numbered, they were happy days.