Pastured Pork page

[dogfuel]

Sorry for the rather generic title....

I get the distinctions between grass-fed and factory beef (omega3/omega6 ratio,...), but get the feeling primal folks are less concerned about the difference between pastured and factory pork. It seems like people do make the pork, distinction, but that it is not nearly as big of a deal as the beef one.

Is this my misinterpretation?

[parakeet]

I buy pastured pork from Christiansen's Family Farm in UT. Here's what they say about their pork:

As if this wasn’t enough, our pork is pasture raised making it nutrient dense in Omega 3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). We feed our pigs locally grown alfalfa/grass hay, Utah grown grains (wheat, barley, oats, and triticale), and fresh produce. We never feed our pigs bread, old donuts, slop, or restaurant scraps. Not only are these foods unhealthy for pigs, but they also contribute to poor quality pork. Our pigs are raised naturally without antibiotics or growth promoters/hormones. We treat our pigs humanely and handle them gently. Our pigs are the happiest pigs you have ever seen. In fact, our neighbors often tease us for spoiling our animals. We take it as a compliment.

After reading that, which would you rather eat, an animal raised on junk food or an animal raised on the food it was meant to be raised on?

[Urban Forager]

We are raising 2 pigs and my husband is very careful about what he feeds them. We never buy commercially raised pork. When we do buy pork it's from a local source and the pigs are pastured.

[meeshar]

I wonder if it's because pastured pork isn't as common as pastured beef/poultry? It's not something you can just pick up at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, most of the time you have to get it directly from farms or farmer's markets. It's pretty important to us, we buy pastured pork from a local farm whenever we can get it, and I save every bit of lard and drop of bacon grease from it, lol.

[Finnegans Wake]

I've gotten pastured and find it superior in terms of flavor and fattiness. (Berkshire pigs rock!)

Also, the conditions of CAFO pigs and the impact on their communites = awful.

Avoid commercial pork if possible, IMO.

[slowcooker]

I've gotten pastured and find it superior in terms of flavor and fattiness. (Berkshire pigs rock!)

Also, the conditions of CAFO pigs and the impact on their communites = awful.

Avoid commercial pork if possible, IMO.

Same with me. Outside of the odd bit of bacon when I run out of the good stuff - I never buy commercial pork.

[JWBooth]

I wonder if it's because pastured pork isn't as common as pastured beef/poultry? It's not something you can just pick up at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, most of the time you have to get it directly from farms or farmer's markets. It's pretty important to us, we buy pastured pork from a local farm whenever we can get it, and I save every bit of lard and drop of bacon grease from it, lol.

Agree. It is not that it is viewed as "less important" from a nutritional standpoint. It is simply a case of pastured beef being more widely available. If I want pastured beef, I can go to the Whole Foods down the street. If I want pastured pork, I have to order it frozen online. Guess which meat I am more likely to eat pastured?

[SarahW]

Agree. It is not that it is viewed as "less important" from a nutritional standpoint. It is simply a case of pastured beef being more widely available. If I want pastured beef, I can go to the Whole Foods down the street. If I want pastured pork, I have to order it frozen online. Guess which meat I am more likely to eat pastured?

Yep. Whole Foods has its "Animal Welfare" rating and the highest I've seen a pork product is a 2.

Granted, I don't care much about some things "Animal Welfare" rates. For example, whether the animal spent its whole life at the same farm. But still, a 2 is pretty lousy. And they don't even bother to put a rating on their house brand stuff.

You'd think WF would push to get better pork products. But given its Vegan-pushing stance and my general observation that many WF are located in predominately Jewish neighborhoods, I guess its not high on its priority list.

[breadsauce]

There's a lovely pastured (free range here in the UK) pig farm near me

Muddy Lovely Home Page

And several others which I buy from. Delicious meat, wonderful crackling and the best bit almost is the organic fat to render down for lard.