Let’s go back, say 100 years. Life is slower, simpler.
And everyone grows some form of their own food in their yard.
These days all our food comes from the grocery store, or is even delivered to our doorstep, with little to no connection to the person that grew it.
Today’s livestock are commonly raised on a CAFO, or commercial animal feed operation, where they’re on cement or dirt lots with no forage or ability to live instinctively. There’s thousands of animals on one operation that are fed a grain ration, most likely of corn or soy, before being processed and sent out into the food system. One pack of ground pork or beef in the grocery store can contain meat from over one hundred different hogs or cows.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
There’s been a shift over the past decade or so to a growing popularity in pasture raised livestock, for the benefit of both the animal and the consumer.
Heritage hogs, the breeds of old, are not popular in commercial operations because they grow slower. But they are a great fit for pastured systems where they have the ability to forage naturally on grasses, roots, and even grubs. But not all heritage hogs are created equal – some are more suited to the pastured model than others.
Tamworth hogs, the same breed we’ve raised for a decade, are natural foragers. When properly managed with rotational paddocks, they don’t destroy the ground like other breeds and will often choose to eat a natural forage of grasses and nuts over rooting in the ground. Their direct contact with the earth from birth to your plate also allows them to absorb natural minerals through the ground, for a more nutrient dense finished product.
Pastured pork is rich in micro-nutrients.
When compared to conventional pork, it contains up to twice the amount of vitamin E and nearly three times the vitamin D which are vital to the metabolic function of your hormones, circulatory system, brain health, and immune system. It also contains higher levels of selenium which is necessary for thyroid health. And their ability to move across acres of land each day can result in up to 8% more protein than their conventional counterparts.
Pastured pork is also high in monounsaturated, or “heart-healthy” fat. The same fat that’s found in avocado or olive oils, yet it’s more bio available due to being less processed than the store varieties. After all, we’ve been carnivores since the beginning of time.
And, while it’s now trendy to cook with olive oil or avocado oil, back before seed oils were readily available, our most common cooking oil was lard. Historically it has been our primary source of vitamin D since hogs can convert sunlight into vitamin D more effectively than humans. With all the time pastured hogs spend in the sunshine, we’re gifted with one of the richest natural sources of vitamin D out there.
There are so many upsides to pastured pork that it’s almost a no-brainer to make the switch.
The mainstream approach takes life.
The regenerative approach gives life.
