The people profiled recommend buying locally grown pork raised humanely from farmers markets. I've found it rather difficult to find meat at farmer's markets and thankfully, the article also provides some helpful links of retailers that sell pork online:
Caw Caw Creek, Debragga, Bev Eggleston's Eco-friendly Foods, Flying Pigs Farm, Heritage Foods USA, Niman Ranch, and Vermont Quality Meats.
Here are some excerpts from the article:
"In America, we've gone through a long period of fast-paced convenience and privilege. Like, if I can't cook this meal in 15 minutes, then it's not worth it. I'll just have someone else do it. But this era has taken something away from us: the pleasure of preparing the foods that we eat and the knowledge of where it comes from. The bottom line is that everybody is searching for a way to connect to the world around them and part of that is connecting to their food."
- Michael Anthony, chef at Gramercy Tavern
"To buy good pork, you should go local if you can. But it's harder and harder to find local pork. In fact I don't think you can find good pork in the supermarket at all. I think "certified organic" is a bunch of bullshit. There's a right way and a wrong way to raise animals, that's all."
- David Chang, chef at Momofuku
"Our slaughterhouses are small and family-run and 100 head a day is a lot. They spend almost 20 minutes processing one pig. It's peaceful and slow and reverent. The workers respect the amount of time necessary to get the job done right, which ultimately preserves the quality in the meat. If the slaughter is not calm, not done properly, it can undo the work of the farmer. I've seen pigs right before slaughter who are sleeping. A dramatically different scene than what's typical at a big packing house. This is the way it used to be done and this is the way that's right and responsible. And there are still, albeit few, custom slaughterhouses like this. It gives the future hope."
- Sarah Obraitis, a partner in Heritage Foods
"The factory system of pork farming is inhumane and unconscionable. But if you raise animals the way I'm advocating -- if they're allowed to live free range, able to care for their young, they live three times longer. Listen, if you want better-tasting meat, you don't stress out the animal. If you object to industrial slaughterhouses, the whole system is horrid."
- Peter Kaminsky, author of Pig Perfect
2 comments:
I love pig. I often feel sad for my Muslim and devout Jewish friends.
I'm not sure about the quality of the pork, but there's a place at the Farmer's Market at The Grove that has good meat. It's right across from the ice cream place that's kind of near the crepe place. We buy beef from that place and it's delicious and of good quality.
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