There is a lot of debate about whether pork should be consumed or not. Some people claim that pork is unclean and should be completely avoided, some believe it’s fine, others believe that as long as it is properly raised it’s great, and finally there are those that believe that as long as it is properly raised and prepared it is healthy. I have looked into the research, and I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t know if pork is “healthy.” I have spent a lot of time in prayer over this issue, and I feel complete peace about raising and eating pork (I haven’t always). I only eat our pork that is raised on pasture, and we don’t eat pork every day. This week I’m going to encourage you to research this subject yourself, pray for wisdom, and consider that not all pork is created equal. If you haven’t tried pastured pork, I really believe that you will notice a difference in the flavor, juiciness, and lack of bad smells.

If you choose to eat pork, there are so many reasons to buy beyond organic, pastured pork from a local source, including but not limited to environmental reasons, health reasons, flavor, promoting local economies, and animal welfare. I highly encourage people to source pork locally, because you can visit the farm and encourage your neighbors. With all the fraud, you will know what country your pork is being raised and processed in. China controls the hog market with 60 percent of the production and they supply the US. I don’t know about you, but I don’t trust China. That’s a subject for another day.

I recently learned that pigs in confinement show signs of stiffness and lameness, especially as they reach market weight. I thought this information was very interesting considering that our processor commented about how different our pastured pigs were compared to any of the other hogs they process. He said that our pigs didn’t get stiff like the other hogs he butchered. He could, “Throw them over his shoulder.” I couldn’t figure this out when he told us at first, but this could explain the difference.

When considering the environment, the book, Pasture Perfect, gives a great example of potential harm from confinement operations. A survey of 155 people determined that the closer people lived to a hog confinement, the more health problems they had, “Including more headaches, runny noses, sore throats, coughing, diarrhea, and burning eyes.” A study done by Iowa State University stated that, “Workers in swine buildings are exposed to dangerously high levels of dust, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and other gasses.” Maybe some hog barns are better than others.

According to Jo Robinson, pork from pastured pigs is more nutritious and has more vitamin E and omega 3 fatty acids. According to, Nourishing Traditions, lard from pastured pigs is one of the best sources of vitamin D since they are out in the sun. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a lot of research done on this, and I hope that more research will be done on the nutritional difference in the near future!

Raising pigs in confinement has produced a significant increase in the use of antibiotics, which has been a contributing factor to antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. I shared a study several months ago that revealed that several meat samples taken from stores contained antibiotic resistant bacteria. That’s a little scary. We have been raising pigs for several years and we have never given a medication to them. Our observation has been that they thrive in a pasture-based system with frequent moves, good quality feed, and low stress.

I have been researching how to get the best tasting, cleanest, and safest meats and eggs for our customers and family for years, and I have spent the most time on pork. Through my research and observations, it is clear that there is a big difference between a pig that is raised outdoors compared to one that is confined in a building. I believe that it’s critical for pigs to be raised outside on pasture (with green plants), moved to new green areas frequently, fed good quality organic grains, given proper natural minerals, and fed natural diatomaceous earth and foods that keep the parasite load low. I also recently learned that all animals and humans will have some parasite load, and the goal is to keep it as low as possible. I’m in the process of researching how to make activated charcoal to give them free choice for pulling toxins too. Since pigs are rooting around in the dirt, they have a higher risk of parasites, especially if they aren’t moved. I have experimented with charcoal recently and I love the results.

In full disclosure, we do sell pastured pork, but I never sell anything that I don’t believe in. I don’t know of anyone else committed to this practice, or I would be happy to support them or recommend them too. Please feel free to leave a comment if you know of someone.

Our family has learned to slow down, make careful observations of what heals/damages, get rid of the distractions, take a little more time preparing our food, and most importantly to seek the Lord’s wisdom. It’s a daily struggle and it never goes perfectly, but we just keep trying to do the best we can. If you are working toward a more traditional, clean, whole foods diet, and would like to take small steps to get there, then you are at the right place. Week one was get your salt right, week 2 was get your sleep right, weeks 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were get your fats right, we had several weeks about seasonings and herbs, some important discussion about natural sweeteners, talked about Forgiveness, hopefully we got our eggs right, and now we will be getting our meats right. Join us next Tuesday for Get Your . . . Right.