Nutritional value of pork... input please..

[Mackenzie]

I've been reading some information about pork and it seems that it is more vilified than I had thought, at least as far as the information that I am reading goes. Have always thought that how it is raised is of utmost importance, just like with other animal produced foods, but it seems that it goes beyond that. It made me wonder what you guys think as, in general, folks at MDC have a different outlook on nutrition that most other sources...

[babyjonesmama]

I think that it just depends on what type of pork you're eating, and for what reasons. I have a difficult eater who really likes hot dogs, so we feed him all pork hot dogs, from local pork that is humanely and naturally raised. He loves it. I'm sure it's ridiculously high in fat and calories, but he needs that. For normal healthy adults, I think that pork chops and pork tenderloin, etc., are healthy options, I think it's probably just as health as beef, if not more so. But I really don't have much to back that up, it's just how I think about it.

[Arduinna]

I love pork, I cook with lard and we eat pork meals pretty often. But then I don't buy into the fat is evil theory.

[Mackenzie]

Me either... A lot of what I have read is about how they don't sweat and how their digestive system leads them more prone to having nastiness in the meat... Bascially more the "pork is filthy" rather than "fat is bad"

[Arduinna]

ok gotcha.

I have raised my own pigs which we ate, and I don't see pork as filthy. I think some of that is a kind of carry over from kosher diets IE the old testament injunctions against eating pigs. Commerically produced pigs today are raised and bred too lean IMO

[rockycrop]

Pork is my favorite kind of meat. We get our meat (pork and beef) from a local farm where everything is grass fed/humanely raised, etc. etc. I don't get to control WHEN we get what, and we have a ton of ground beef right now and I'm anxiously waiting to get some ground pork I can make sausage out of.

As far as health, the author of "The Blue Zones" about the areas of the world where people live the longest, said all of the Blue Zones consumed pork. Whatever that's worth to ya.
http://adventure.nationalgeographic....-buettner-text

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by Arduinna

ok gotcha.

I have raised my own pigs which we ate, and I don't see pork as filthy. I think some of that is a kind of carry over from kosher diets IE the old testament injunctions against eating pigs. Commerically produced pigs today are raised and bred too lean IMO

I agree. I think pork is like everything else, it all depends on what you get. I raise my own pigs and we use a small local butcher shop. If we don't have that, we don't eat pork.