For the last 6 months, our three island-born, Kunekune/Gloucestershire Old Spot cross pigs have been happily rooting around in the dirt, sleeping in a pig pile (yes this actually is a thing), eating peas and barley soaked in whey, and generally having the best life a pig could possibly wish for. They even have names: Bill, Fatty Lumpkin, and Butterbur, after horses in the Lord of the Rings book series. These are happy pigs. And tomorrow, we will say a prayer, look them in the eye, and then shoot a bolt into their brain to stun them, followed by a knife to the neck to bleed them out so that they die. I will likely cry. All so that we can have pork to eat. I will ask myself if it's actually worth it.
The slaughtering of an animal I built a shelter for, faithfully fed twice daily, moved pens weekly, and carried countless buckets of whey from the car to the farm is a heart-wrenching task. Much easier is picking up a styrofoam pan of ground pork from the grocery store, a thing completely disassociated from the animal it came from. It's just food. The pork we will eat from these pigs, on the other hand, will have names. This isn't just a roast, it's Bill's shoulder. It's not just bacon, it's from the belly of Fatty Lumpkin. Our kids will likely ask questions like: "Is this a ham from Butterbur?". Dark? Perhaps. But an animal also died for that pan of ground pork. Likely an animal raised indoors, confined in a pen; an animal without a name.
But either way, an animal must die so that I can eat meat. Should I instead become vegetarian? Vegan? I don't believe so. There are nutritional problems with veganism, and the fact remains that meat is delicious. Plus, my world view is that humans were created to take care of the earth and to enjoy the fruits thereof, which means both caring for animals...and eating them. In college, I was influenced by Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivores Dilemma, becoming aware of the inhumane conditions animals are often raised in. When living in the city, I addressed this by buying meat from the farmer's market. Now, living somewhere with space for animals and an interest in learning to raise them, I am learning how to do both of these things: raise them humanely and how to nourish my family with them. If anything, going through the slaughtering process myself makes the meat taste better, because I know the sacrifice that was made to get it there.
This is the third set of pigs we've raised and one of the observations I've made is that we end up treating the meat almost reverently. We will use every last piece of that animal, as it becomes unthinkable not to when you spend so much time and effort raising them. Throw those leftovers away? No way, we spend countless hours getting that onto the table.
Another interesting observation: a significant portion of the pigs diet came from a waste product: whey from an island creamery. This is the leftovers from cheesemaking and would have otherwise just been dumped onto the ground. Instead, it's been turned into pork.
And one more thing: pigs love rooting in the dirt. In fact, the area the pigs are on at the farm was pasture when they came 6 months ago: it's now finely tilled dirt that I plan on using for planting crops.
So, regarding my original question to myself: is it actually worth it? Right now, yes. I have the energy, the land, and the connections necessary to make it happen. It's hard, but then again, many of the best things in life are hard, yet still worth doing.
All for now. If you want to read more, this is an interesting related article from Michael Pollan: https://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/an-animals-place/. And if anyone wants to have a conversation about this, let me know! Happy to discuss.