Wooly Pigs in the Pacific Northwest

My friend Annie in New Zealand sent me a link to the Wooly Pigs Blog, run by Heath and Zuzana Putnam, now of Spokane, Washington. They have imported a herd of wooly Mangalitsa pigs and raise them in the "European style"--outside, with no drugs, hormones, chemicals and eating a natural diet. You can read more about their operation and the pork they produce for sale to consumers and high-end restaurants here.

I first found out about them via a blog entry on the topic "Are we nice to the animals?" which you can find here. The most interesting thing I gleaned from the discussion, something I've read of elsewhere, is the independent farmer's lament that he has to use USDA-approved facilities to slaughter his animals, where the animals receive perhaps their worst treatment. Given what we've learned here in Los Angeles about the treatment of cattle at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company (see the L.A. Times article about America's largest meat recall here) I'm not surprised that they feel that way.

All in all, the Wooly Pigs websites are great reads. If eating pork is your thing, perhaps check them out.

Pigs & Medieval Studies

In the Middle, a medieval studies blog, has had several recent postings about pigs by Karl Steel, one of their contributors. You can find them here sorted by keyword. One post concerns anthropophagus pigs--pigs that eat human flesh. I've mentioned this theme a couple of times, as it's one that comes up in HBO's late-lamented Deadwood and in the on-going trial of accused Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton (for the latest news about his defense, see this BBC account). There is also a post about the Testamentum Porcelli, a satirical last will and testament from a pig that was popular with the kids back in the fourth century. If you happen to read Latin, you can find a copy here. If, like me, you haven't worked on your Latin since high school, there's a great 1987 article about it called "The Testament of the Piglet" that you can find here in J-Stor.

Thanks to the great porkopolis.org for the reference. Today's image comes from my friend Lisa from her trip to Nantucket. Painting and artist unknown, for now at least.