Do you know what’s in the pork you buy in the grocery store? Sure, you can check the label and see that in a lot of cases, there is added water and salt. But beyond that… going back to how the animals are raised… what is going into THEM that you aren’t seeing on the label?
The use of antibiotics in livestock is pretty well-known. As we come across more and more antibiotic-resistant diseases, attention turns to the decades-long use of antibiotics in livestock feed to encourage faster growth. However, there is another drug that is widely used but only recently come under scrutiny. Ractopamine is a drug originally developed to treat asthma in humans but is being used in cattle and pigs to increase muscle mass. The United States federal government has approved its use as a growth enhancer in the beef and pork industries and has established acceptable levels of this substance in meat, but many countries (including China, a major importer of pork) have a zero tolerance level. According to this article by Michigan State University, a major reason for this discrepancy is that although ractopamine clears quickly from muscle tissue, it stays longer in other tissues, including the liver and kidneys. The reasoning for the US stance is that the tissues this substance lingers in are not commonly eaten here. Maybe not commonly eaten here, but you can definitely buy such organ meats at grocery stores,
We dove into the world of raising KuneKune pigs as a result of a desire to raise more of our own food, so we control what they eat and what medications they might be treated with. For our family of two, this smaller breed pig seemed the perfect fit. I had HEARD it has exceptional flavor but thought “Yeah, pork is pork.”
My first taste of KuneKune pork found me absolutely floored by the texture and flavor. The meat was well-marbled, tender and almost tasted more like beef than pork. It wasn’t supermarket pork, that’s for sure! It was love at first bite and we knew we had made the right choice.
KuneKune is a lard breed, meaning they convert a lot of calories into fat. Back in the “old days” before vegetable oils were widely available, lard was one of the preferred cooking fats and the fat from these pigs was considered valuable. When lard fell out of favor, breeders turned to developing leaner breeds to not only reduce the amount of the now-stigmatized lard that needs to be trimmed away, but to feed an increasing demand for lower fat foods. That is how the dry, flavorless pork we now get in the supermarket came to be. As they say, fat is where the flavor is at. No fat, no flavor.
And it’s not just knowing what goes into our meat; it’s knowing how they’re fed. Our pigs get a grain mix made from peanuts and milo, and are allowed to graze on pasture most of the year. When they can’t be put on pasture (like in the winter when the grass is dormant or when we are reseeding) they get alfalfa and other hay. Not surprisingly, studies have shown that pasture raised pork has a more favorable nutritional profile, as this study commissioned by the KuneKune Pork Producers Association. Better quality, better nutrients and most importantly… better taste. What’s not to love?
