Page 70 - Fall2011

Food Feature

PORK
By Sally Fallon Morell

Pork is "Dear WAPF," began the hand-written note, member of WAPF. "In China," he told me, "we
traditionally "We are cancelling our membership because of prepare pork in a special way, otherwise we
the Foundation's stand against eating pork. Your think it is unhealthy." The preparation technique
marinated in prejudice against pork hurts hard-working farm- involves cutting pork into small pieces and mari-
vinegar ers." nating it in vinegar before cooking it in pork fat.
This letter has languished in my files for "When we prepare pork this way," he said, "we
in the several years as I considered how to answer know that it is good for us." Pork and pork fat
Philippines what I call the "pork dilemma." On the one hand, together form the number one source of calories
and in several practitioners of live blood cell analysis in the traditional Chinese diet.
Argentina; in have told me that eating pork causes undesir- Pork is traditionally marinated in vinegar in
able changes in the blood; on the other hand, the Philippines and in Argentina; in Europe it is
Europe it is pork was consumed by healthy Polynesian and fermented or cured; even America has her tradi-
fermented or Melanesian groups which Dr. Price visited and tion of pickled pigs' feet and vinegar-marinated
cured; even described; and pork is a major food in the diets barbecue.
of long-lived peoples such as the Okinawans and
At last we have been able to bring some final-
America has Caucasian Georgians. Equally important is the ity to the question with the live blood analyses
her tradition fact that raising pork fits so well into the model of Beverly Rubik (see article page 24). Her study

of pickled of an integrated farm. If the farmer is making indicates that plain pork meat indeed causes
cheese (from grass-fed cows, of course), he can undesirable changes in the blood, accompanied
pigs feet and give the whey, considered a waste product, to the by fatigue, but pork that has been marinated,
vinegar- pigs and chickens. Many farmers have told me fermented or cured does not. This is indeed good

marinated that it is the pigs, more than any other product, news for farmers and bacon lovers!
that brings prosperity to the farm, even if they
Here is a collection of pork recipes from
barbecue. are raised on purchased grain. around the world that WAPF members can eat
A clue to the dilemma came from a Chinese with confidence.

THE RACTOPAMINE SCANDAL

Although banned in one hundred sixty countries, including China, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) al-
lows the administration of a drug called ractopamine for pigs. Used in 45 percent of U.S. pigs, the drug increases protein
synthesis at the expense of fat buildup in maturing pigs. Side effects include hyperactivity, muscle breakdown and mortality
but farmers use it anyway to get pigs lean for today's fat-phobic market. Unlike growth-promoting antibiotics and hormones,
which are withdrawn as the animal nears slaughter, ractopamine is started as the animal gets close to butchering day.
Handling instructions for ractopamine caution: "Not for use in humans. Individuals with cardiovascular disease
should exercise special caution to avoid exposure. Use protective clothing, impervious gloves, protective eye wear and a
NIOSH-approved dust mask." Yet FDA allows its use in meat in such a way that residues surely remain—up to 20 percent
of ractopamine remains in the meat you buy from the supermarket, according to veterinarian Michael W. Fox. (The drug
is also approved for confinement beef and turkeys.)
Of course, there are other reasons to avoid conventional pork, including the horrendous way that they are raised in
confinement, a system that tortures the pig, demeans farm workers and pollutes the environment.
Be sure to seek out pork from conscientious farmers who allow their pigs to roam on pasture or in forest. In fact, pigs
will clear out a forest floor, creating a savanna where cows can graze in hot summer months; and pigs build up nutritious,
delicious fat from a diet of forest nuts and roots that otherwise go to waste. There is enough forest in the U.S. to raise our
entire supply of pork, without a single cage or CAFO.
70 Wise Traditions FALL 2011 FALL 2011 Wise Traditions

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