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This little piggy went organic
Ever since I cut red meat out of my diet about six years ago, I'm always fielding the question "so...why don't you eat pork?" Usually, I site environmental reasons attributed to the disposal of hog waste in unsound hog lagoons and sprayfields, as well concerns about hog farms and environmental justice. However, there's much more to it than that.
North Carolina is the second-largest pork producer state in the United States. According to a recent article from the The Daily Tarheel, the Smithfield Packing Plant in Tar Heel, NC slaughters 32,000 pigs a day. 32,000!!! A day!!! The pork is then shipped all over the world—creating a huge carbon footprint. And as for the thousands upon thousands of workers at the Smithfield Plant and their rights and treatment, well...that's another story.
But there's an emerging trend in the agricultural community: sustainable, local, organic hog farming. These farms offer smaller, more environmentally-sound practices, pasture-raised hogs, less of an impact to surrounding communities (in terms of odor and waste disposal), and, of course, the ability to buy pork locally—supporting communities and reducing ye olde carbon footprint.
The main concern, of course, is that buying local, sustainable pork means paying more up front. Some businesses and schools find it hard to support the organic farms due to these monetary constraints. The good news is that there are groups like NC Choices and FLO Foods to help support local farmers, develop community partnerships, and promote sustainable agriculture.
The good news (for meat-eaters, at least)? This little piggy went organic and went to market.
yay for organic piggies!
7-year vegetarian here, saying YAY for organic piggies!
organic pigs
I am a small organic hog farmer . I would like to se moor of this pork in the market at a better price . And i would like to talk to moor pepole about this . my name is matt zeiger my email is redneckoppy@yahoo.com
Masses of Meat
Recently, I was just thinking about how raising animals for consuming their meat came to be what it is today. In the old days most people had their own animals...They always kept a few for their family. Now a few raise masses of animals for massess of people. Now most people are so detached from animals and the way things used to be that they can't even conceive of how their "living" conditions affect their meat. We took the wrong path...it's not good for the animals and not good for the people who consume them. People are "slowly" becoming aware of this...Many go vegetarian...which is one way to deal with it...I think the prices are high for mass produced meat of any kind...and the quality (yuck!). The stress alone affects the meat (not to mention what the animals have been fed). I believe that every thing about the animal that I eat is passed on to me. I don't need more stress in my life. We truly are what we eat...Personally I'd rather pay even higher prices for truly higher quality of meat (from animals that had a good life), and perhaps just eat meat less frequently. I think that would be good for me!