Recently I’ve noticed a mini-wave of references to “free-range pork.” Well, I’ve only seen two that I can remember — one in Naomi Wise’s recent description of Arterra’s dish of pork from Four Story Hill Farms, and one on a local restaurant menu that does not name the farm. But I think there are some additional thoughts of free-range pigs floating out there on the periphery of my perception.
“Free-range” is rather a fuzzy term even when applied to chickens. Michael Pollan pointed this out in the Omnivore’s Dilemma, and recently there has been an increasing distinction made between “free-range” chickens (typically raised in packed into barns with a little-used patio) and “pastured” chickens (raised wandering around a farm). With eggs, the difference is usually termed “cage-free” (barn chickens) and “ranch eggs” (pastured chickens). Pastured chicken and their eggs are much different (superior) to free-range chickens, ’cause wandering around and eating grubs makes for a much more flavorful animal.
With pigs, the term “free-range” is, in my opinion, either empty or generally misused. The reason for this is not malfeasance by speakers but the traditional role of a pig on a farm. We have very few traditional integrated (i.e., with myriad crops on the same property) farms left in America, so not many of us have been exposed to pigs in that context. Now, pigs mostly live packed by the hundreds into windowless metal buildings. On a small rustic farm, however, a pig or two was a machine for converting into protein and nitrogen the byproducts of various farm processes. To elaborate, here’s my favorite nineteenth century book, Harris on the Pig (1883):
[P]ersons who have only a garden or small place, should have a pig pen, with a small yard attached, into which all the refuse material of the garden can be conveniently thrown — such as the clippings of the lawn, weeds, potato tops, pea and bean haulm, leaves, coal ashes, the loose dirt that is raked up…the pig, if well bred and well fed, will become one of the most popular features of the establishment, and he will be profitable also. He will pay in using up the refuse from the house and from the garden; pay in delicious hams, spare-ribs, and tenderloin; pay in firm, white, sweet lard; and above all, he will pay in furnishing a large, rich compost for the garden, which, with the addition of a little superphosphate and guano, will pay double and treble in the abundance of crisp vegetables and well developed fruit.
In contrast to the farm’s chickens, which wandered freely around the premises snatching worms and laying eggs, or the cows that slowly mowed all the grasses as the moseyed about, many traditionally-farmed pigs lived alone or with a small number of companions, in a fairly large pen, and ate a wide variety of food. The variety of diet seems to be consistent with their destiny: two of this country’s leading pig farmers have both stressed to me how important variety of diet is to keeping pigs happy.
What made traditional American pork (or for that matter, I think, French countryside pork) delicious was:
1) breeds cultivated for fat and flavor
2) a varied diet rich in many kinds of flavorful and fatty foods
3) a happy, well-adjusted animal who enjoyed the company of people and other farm animals
4) adequate room to move, root, and generally be a pig.
Note that, in farms like these, ranging across large distances is not really important for the pigs. There are other kinds of farms in which the pigs are more like they might be in the “wild”, ranging over large distances and living in sounders (pig herds). I think I’ve read of such farms in Spain, but in the USA I’m aware of only one, and it’s a fantastic place: Caw Caw Creek in St. Matthews, South Carolina.
At Caw Caw Creek, the pigs live on a plot which I think is well over a hundred acres, and encompasses both woods and pasture. Emile DeFelice, the farmer, puts their water at one end of the property and their food at the other, ensuring that the pigs get plenty of exercise. In this large-scale environment, Emile has had the opportunity to see innate social behaviors that other farmers would not: for instance, when the weather gets particularly stormy, the (scores of) pigs will pile up in a single huge pyramid, sharing warmth and keeping the pigs in the pyramid’s interior dry.
If “free-range” means anything in regards to pigs, I think it is a place like this, which is like a Wild Animal Park setting for swine. I know of no other commercial pig farm in the US which is like this, though I know Emile has been working with a couple other people to help them set up similar operations.
On the other end of the spectrum is currently commodity pig farming — which is basically 99% of the pork available to Americans. These pigs are raised in large windowless barns, in the density of one pig per every 8 square feet. In these conditions, pathological diseases are rampant, so the pigs are administered sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics. Their tails are docked (cut) so that, under the stress of crowding, they don’t eat each other’s tails. This is the typical way pork is created in the US.
In commodity pig farming, many of the costs are externalized — the waste created by these operations is unmanageable and degrades its environment; previously controllable diseases risk becoming antibiotic resistant; neighboring farms can’t raise pigs outdoors because of the pathogens; feed of corn and soybeans is subsidized by the government, as is fuel and highway costs for transporting pigs and feed. The externalization (i.e., transfer to society at large) of these costs make for very cheap pork for most people — since the farmer doesn’t pay those costs the consumer doesn’t have to, either.
When a pig farmer works to do things at least somewhat better than commodity farms, their price goes up, sometimes drastically, and they need to explain to the market why their pork costs more. This is where words like “natural”, “pastured”, and “free-range” come in. Unfortunately, at this point the words have been applied so variously as to be meaningless. This isn’t surprising, given the assiduousness with which the details of modern farming have been kept from the eating public. Frankly, if people knew where their most of their meat comes from they’d eat a whole lot less of it.
So, what’s between commodity and Caw Caw Creek, and what should we make of it?
First, there are farms like Vande Rose, which raise the animals according to the latest (commodity) methods, but take care in land stewardship, antibiotic use, and breeding to raise great-tasting, low-stress animals which come to the table free of added goodies like antibiotics. Typically this kind of pork is referred to as “natural.”
Next, there are operations like Niman Ranch and Eden Natural, which act as co-ops for numerous farms committed to better, more traditional ways of farming. Both of these operations have as their baseline a guarantee of more space per pig (I think 12 square feet) and a period of no antibiotics before slaughter. In fact most of their farms make other, varied, improvements over the commodity method, as well. This can be outdoor pens or hoop barns, varied feed, no antibiotics at all, or even raising the pigs as part of a completely integrated farm, like B & B Farms in Grinnell, Iowa. Both of these co-ops also raise traditional breeds of pork (Niman, mostly Farmer’s Hybrid; Eden Natural, 100% Berkshire) and emphasize land stewardship (i.e., not destroying the environment with pig waste).
Operations such as Niman and Eden are variously called “natural” — though they’re more than that — or “pastured” — even though they aren’t always pastured, frankly. I don’t know that there’s a good catch-all phrase for these, we just refer to them as independently-raised pork or by the co-op name.
Pigs raised this way, of older breeds, in barns with fresh air, not too crowded, really probably represents the most traditional kind of pig farming and really deserves to be highlighted with its own term. I suspect that this is what is usually meant when referring to a certain pork as “free range”. I hope we can come up with a different term for pen-pigs like these that 1) captures the extra effort and cost required to raise pigs this way instead of in confinement, and 2) is semiotically accurate.
Within Eden Natural (and possibly within Niman), there is a subset of pork guaranteed to come from a few farms that raise their pigs on pasture. To me, “pastured” pork means a limited number of pigs in fairly large outdoor pens, where their diet is supplemented by at least some grasses growing from the ground. These pigs are never administered antiobiotics and typically come from integrated farms. We are not always able to get these pigs from Eden Natural — so far we’ve just piggybacked, so to speak, on orders from Paul Bertolli (dude draws a lot of water with the processing plant and can get whatever pigs he wants!).
Other pig farms we work with that raise pigs this way include NZ Farms in San Luis Obispo, which is raising Hampshire pigs for us; RC Livestock in Fallbrook which has a Berkshire pig with our name on it; Miami Creek Farms in Awahnee, CA which raises Yorkshire pigs; and of course our wonderful friend Eliza MacLean at Cane Creek Farm. We generally refer to pork from farms like this as “pastured” pork, which I think makes sense.
So, to sum up, the following seems to me to be the state of the art, current taxonomy for pork:
1) Commodity. Almost all available pork, raised in confinement at one pig per 8 square feet, tails docked and fed anitbiotics, as many costs as possible externalized to make the cost to the consumer as low as possible.
2) Natural. Raised according to modern methods, but with some improvements, usually less dependence on anitbiotics and more land stewardship, resulting in healthier animals, pork, and environment.
3) ??? Traditionally Raised (no good term yet). Raised according to traditional methods: ample space in the pen per animal, and thus less dependence on antibiotics and no need to dock tails, etc. The animals are less stressed and may have a varied diet. They live at least partially outdoors and are typically of older breeds. This is Niman Ranch and Eden Natural style pork. Sometimes referred to as “free range” which seems technically inaccurate but it does convey that there is an important philosophical difference between this kind of farming and commodity farming.
UPDATE: For now, at least, we’ll refer to this as “traditionally raised pork.”
UPDATE #2: Bonnie from Ethicurean correctly points out that this is what used to be called “natural”, and until the word was defined down to mean, basically, “at least somewhat better than the worst commodity meat.” This happened in the same way that, with enough real estate listings, a moderate-income neighborhood becomes part of an adjacent, more affluent district.
4) Pastured. Raised outdoors, in pens with room to roam, eating at least as part of their diet grass that is growing in the ground. And presumably walking around enough to get at least a tiny bit of exercise. These are almost always traditional breeds.
5) ???. Really-Free-Range? Wild-Farmed? Postmodern? Whatever you’d call Caw Caw Creek and other farms that raise pigs in a near-wild state, where they realize their social potential and travel in sounders across large distances. In my opinion, this is the most exciting direction of pig farming right now, but in areas like ours it seems initially cost-prohibitive. I suspect that we will eventually figure out a way to have farms like this even in high-cost areas, though, we just haven’t banged on that door enough.
What a great read! Thank you for wrapping this up so nicely.
I’m trying to find ways to eat meat responsibly (and sparingly) in San Diego, and found your site via Chowhound.com.
I’m avoiding all animal products for a spell, but I imagine I’ll be in for a few links before long.
Looking forward to further reading.
Jay, great post as usual. I’m surprised, however, that you would bow to “conventional” wisdom and call modern-but-slightly-less-evil pork “natural.” The use of that word to describe animals raised in close confinement (some of them use sow crates, too), unable to engage in any of their natural behaviors, is misleading to consumers. The reason you’re struggling to find a term for “Traditionally Raised” is that they stole it — that category should be “Natural.”
For what it’s worth, I vote for “Wild-Farmed” for Caw-Caw Creek. I think it sums it up nicely.
Jed, thanks for commenting. I’m glad you found us.
Bonnie, as always, thanks for the link and for the props.
As for the appropriation of the term “natural”, I guess in my mind that ship has already sailed — “natural” has developed a certain meaning in the meat-buying world and I’ve become accustomed to it. I think it became effective because it applies, in a sense, to the meat — i.e., the meat is free of antibiotics and hormones, therefore it’s labeled “natural” meat. Either way, you and I both agree that “natural” meat (in the newest nomenclature) is certainly farmed in a less-than-ideal way.
In general, I’m a lot more supportive of “modern-but-slightly-less-evil” farms than are many folks who believe in sustainable agriculture. This is because, in my opinion, these farms — what I call “thoughtful industrial” including consciously-managed feedlots and confinement farms — represent the best opportunity to make the biggest difference immediately, in terms of food quality, food safety, the environment, and the consciousness of the market.
For instance, Vande Rose Farms, which is a confinement operation, uses all of its own waste as fertilizer and brings very few inputs into its sphere, and minimizes use of antibiotics as a method of controlling pathogens. This makes for an incredible improvement over commodity pork with only a moderate increase in price (because not many costs are internalized, which in turn is why this method is, in the big picture, not as good as traditional farming). Specifically, if “thoughtful industrial” became America’s primary means of raising pigs, we’d see an immediate reduction in direct environmental damage from pig farms, in the conditions promoting antibiotic-resistant disease, and in unhealthy and flavorless pork. All at a cost increase which would be fairly low to the average supermarket-goer.
Put another way, I can sell a $11 sausage sandwich to my neighbor, who may not know much about the details of farming but would like wholesome, delicious food. In doing so I can explain why these sausages cost more than the $7 they cost at the local snack shack, and my neighbor will appreciate the value and the difference. But when I sell a pastured-pork sandwich for $20 — which is reflective of the real cost of pastured pork — then I start to narrow my market just to people who already thoroughly understand the details of farming and understand why pastured pork costs (and is worth) four times as much as the pork they usually buy.
We aim to serve both markets, but in my opinion the key to growing the second market — fully aware eaters — is to have robust activity in the first market — curious eaters willing to try something incrementally different. That’s why I think that the “thoughtful industrial” farms hold the key to bringing the sustainability meme from our subculture of “food geeks”, to the forefront of American eating in general.
This is great. You got into this a little bit during our interview, but not in such great detail. This should be a great addition when explaining the impacts of sustainability measures taken by restaurants. I agree that this is one of the most important aspects of greening a restaurant. Thanks again for taking the time to meet with me. I will send you a copy of my thesis paper when I’m done. Peace.
Very informative ! I agree – we want to get to the “ideal” but it makes sense to support those who are making an effort to be conscientious producers. Terrific description of the realities faced by restaurants, consumers, etc as they face practical decisions while trying to support local and sustainable products – not to mention the difficulty with a host of definitions that don’t accurately describe the products!