Posts tagged as pigs

If you were willing to try your luck in the office World Cup pool, here’s a little contest that might be equally exciting.  See if you can pick which genetically engineered food will enter the marketplace first: Frankenswine or Arnold Schwartzensalmon.  We have some other great names for a similar and unfortunate creation.  Currently, the competitors are neck and neck.  Both “food products” are in the queue at the Food and Drug Administration – after a ten year haul – waiting to be approved for our tables.

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Community supported agriculture programs (CSA’s) have become increasingly popular in the United States as more people begin to realize their many benefits.  These programs let city dwellers escape the factory farm-to-mega-market-production line and experience farm fresh food.  New evidence of the growing popularity of CSA’s can be found on a small farm north of Ithaca, New York, where The Piggery, a farm that boasts of “handcrafted charcuterie from heirloom, pastured pork,” has become New York City’s first meat-only CSA.

Pssst... where'd ya get your pig? Photo courtesty the National Media Museum.

While New York isn’t the first place one would expect a pig farm, the married team of Brad Marshall and Heather Stanford have successfully established their meat-only CSA to provide fresh pork products to the city. The couple raises 130 pigs in an open-air barn where animals have access to green pastures.  Once large enough, these pigs are sent to slaughter and then made into various pork products including bacon, salami, pork chops, and chorizo.

These products are then sold back to the public through a seasonal membership fee.  Members invest money up front to buy a portion of a pig.  Each month, they receive cuts from their purchased pig.  The knowledge that these products are being ethically produced is a primary motivator for participation in the CSA. Read more…