Please talk me into eating pork

[JSerene]

This is a very strange question, especially coming from me. Here's the hx. We have been a vegetarian family for 8 years. My 3 yr old dd was just diagnosed with many food allergies (gluten, eggs, dairy, citrus, coconut, soy, lentils, peas and sesame seeds) and a few intolerances (pinto beans, sugar cane, a few others). We are now working on healing her leaky gut and have started a rotation diet. Because of all this, I feel I have no choice but to serve meat. Well, guess what - she loves it. I would imagine she feels pretty good eating meat since it doesn't upset her system. Anyway, I bought beef, chicken, lamb and turkey this week, but couldn't bring myself to buy pork. It's totally irrational on my part. Why eat a baby sheep and not a pig? This may sound dumb, but I think of pigs like I think of dogs: fairly intelligent, social creatures. Tell me it's not wrong to eat them. Help me sort through this hang up (I don't ask for much do I?). Thanks!

P.S. Before I was a vegetarian I really enjoyed pork products and I know how to cook it.

[paquerette]

Bacon.

[Nan'sMom]

I agree, if you are wanting to try pork, try bacon. Preferably from a small farmer you know, so you know they've been treated well. For me this helps a lot.

FWIW, I was vegetarian/vegan for 29 years, now eat plenty of meat but rarely eat pork. I'm not sure what the deal is but I think I have trouble digesting too much of it and it mostly just doesn't appeal to me. So hard to sort this stuff out when you're not used to eating meat! My family loves bacon though, so I cook that a fair amount.

I'm glad you've found some answers for your dd. My younger daughter also does far better with meat than other protein sources.

[quietserena]

There are a few of us who don't have pork. If there's something in you telling you not to eat it, maybe there's a reason?

I just figured I'd give you an out if you want it.

[Attached Mama]

Yeah, I don't eat pork either. Same reason - pigs are too intelligent. Plus certain dietary traditions have found it to be an inferior (unclean) source of meat. Between the two I figure I'm best avoiding it. I don't think there is anything in it that we need but can't get from other animals.

I was veg for 5 years. I eat meat now, but only if I know the farmer who has raised it, what it was fed, how it was "processed" etc. I came to realize that it was, in my mind, more humane for the animal to die a humane death at the hands of a human than a natural death at the hands of a predator. So if you do want to eat pork, that would be a good reasoning.

[spughy]

Well, most other farm animals provide products that don't require their death to use - cows, goats and sheep provide milk; sheep and some goats provide wool; chickens produce eggs, oxen (used to) pull ploughs, etc.

But pigs... pigs are just pork. And if we didn't eat them, there would be no reason for them to exist (except in extremely limited and rapidly vanishing small wild populations). So by eating ethically raised, humanely slaughtered pork, you ensure that these intelligent creatures continue to bless the world with their presence. I am firmly of the belief that a content life with a pain-free ending is better than no life at all. Don't deny the pigs their lives!

[gardenmommy]

I was veg. for over 8 years. I eat a lot of stuff now, but pork really ooks me out too much to eat it. I don't feel like I am missing anything, either, so I just don't eat it. I think if you really want to eat it, then get something you liked in your former carnivore days, otherwise, skip it.

[PeggyinNC]

I don't eat much pork either. I don't feel comfortable about it, but I don't make a big deal of it. If I can choose between barbecue pork or beef, I'll pick the beef, but if I go to someone's home and they are serving barbecue pork, I will eat it without making a fuss. But I don't go looking for it. Lots of other great meat without pork. There is so much wonderful, cheap, home-grown pastured pork around here in the Carolinas that I wish I could feel better about eating it, but I just don't. So, if you really don't feel comfortable with it, there's lots of other options.

[cristeen]

Pork is actually probably my favorite meat. It is extremely versatile, and lends itself to just about any cooking method.

I'd try finding a place to buy it that has ethically raised pork. I can get mine at the farmer's market, and that's my preference over WF. You may want to start with a cured pork product, if you can find one without nitrates... ham, bacon, etc. A little bacon or ham in a sandwich or on a salad is lovely.

For cooking, maybe start with a method that won't turn out a recognizable product if that will help... pulled pork is good for that. Or a stir-fry or curry will also do well at disguising the type of meat.

HTH

[paquerette]

I do take a medication that's made from piggies (armour thyroid, yes like the hot dogs. ). I figure that some pigs have to die to keep me alive and functional, I might as well eat them while I'm at it. There are also lots of diabetics out there dependent upon pig insulin (though I'm not sure if that's a slaughter the pig to get at it thing?). There are probably other porcine meds. Only other thing that pops to mind is cervadil and we know they don't kill them for that! But pig farming does need to keep happening for sources for these meds. It will never be a complete waste.

[AJP]

Originally Posted by spughy

(except in extremely limited and rapidly vanishing small wild populations).

There's actually a booming population of feral pigs in many areas of the US, especially California and the SE states. They're not native, of course, and are usually hybrids of descendants from escaped domestic pigs and intentionally released European wild boar. Hunting for them is open year-round in CA, and they're a major agricultural pest in some areas. Not that this has any bearing on the OP...

[JSerene]

Hey, thanks for all the great replies. I appreciate talking amongst people that have also given this some thought. We have great sources for local, organic, pastured, ethical meat (including pork). It's a lot more expensive than eating beans and rice!

To tell the truth, I've looked into the loving eyes of a cow and felt its soft muzzle. Eating a pig couldn't possibly be more or less ethical. We're not going to go overboard on meat, but will have to eat a little everyday. I never thought I'd call myself an ethical omnivore (in my circles this is an oxymoron ), but here I am.

[momtoalexsarah]

We Raise organic, pastured pigs as well as beef, chickens and turkeys. To be honest the pigs are a usefull animal, and not at all unclean. Pigs cannot sweat and the only way for them to cool off is to coat themselfs in mud - and there is nothing unclean about that - even humans do that in the name of beauty. Pigs by nature love to dig and so make a great rototiller for our small pasture plots. These are very rocky and to small for our field equiptment to manuver in. We let the pigs root out in one of them each summer and by fall it is ready for planting so we can pasture the cattle there next year. The pigs grow well on this pasture although we do feed them a little grain but that is mainly so that we can add a vitamine/mineral package to there diet.
On an organic farm (and a balanced farming ecosystem) animals are an intergral part. The animals pasture on grasses and hays that are built into a rotation - these grasses and hays are critical in a healthy soil, but humans cannot eat them. We in turm feed these to the cattle/pigs and they provide fertizer (manure) for the fields so that we can have the soil nutrients to grow grains for human consumption.
Pork is a very nice meat, tasty and if the animals are treated well then they are no different then a cow/sheep/chicken. Other animals can be just as intelligent as a pig, although maybe not quite as cute as a baby. I full grown pig though tends to be a little less then cute - just immagine having a group of 15, 300lb animals running at you because you decided to come and see them - you learn quikly what a bowling pin feels like.
Good luck ing your decision, but I would encourage you to find some certified organic pastured pork and give that a try!

[Absinthia]

Pork is rich in Vitamin B6 and B12 and full of antioxidants :. Pork is not unclean, that's superstitious.

[bri276]

hmm, I'm trying not to eat it as much (because my favorite pork products are all so salty). my problem is being Italian

really, there's no pressing reason to force yourself. I don't eat lamb, veal, suckling pig, duckling- baby anything, simply because it bothers me psychologically. I certainly don't think eating a TF diet means having to eat every type of meat, as I'm not aware of any traditional culture that had access to every animal we do!

[wagamama]

Another fan of ethically-raised pork! I was vegetarian for 8 years or so in my 20s, so I understand where you're coming from. It helps to remind myself of the places where pork is a traditional food -- like Okinawa, where it's a staple food. DH is Japanese, and the Japanese also eat quite a bit of pork -- this must be a more recent "tradition", though.