Everything But The Oink
Among his countless stirring speeches, witty anecdotes and rousing rhetoric is a lesser known quote from Winston Churchill that rings particularly true to us as we enter into our second year keeping pigs. These words seemingly perfectly capture the relationship we enjoy with our porcine pals:
“I am particularly fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
OK so they weren’t the words to go to battle on, but they certainly surely resonate with anyone who has been involved in rearing pigs.
It is this relationship of equals which makes the destiny defining day-trip to the abattoir particularly problematic. We are often asked by people who see our pigs whether we grow attached to them and indeed whether by the time the chop comes do we see them more as pets and then feel bad about eating them?
In truth my answer to this is quite straight forward although one which at first seems a little absurd. It is precisely because I have grown attached to the pigs that I feel less guilty about eating them. Put another way it is because I can be sure they’ve had a happy life on our little plot, had a good diet and have been happy pigs, that I feel much better about eating them. I certainly feel more comfortable eating our pigs than eating meat from somewhere where I can’t be sure about the way the animals were raised or indeed killed. So while it is never nice saying goodbyes we always travel to abattoir knowing the pig’s life has been good, its death will be quick……and hence its meat will taste good.
In short the better the life we can provide for these animals the more comfortable I feel in eating them.
If all this sounds trite and over sentimental to you then blame my quasi-hippy upbringing by parents with strong vegetarian tendencies!
And so it was yesterday when we said goodbye to the last two of the pigs which have been living in our village over the summer. Anyone walking past our plot in Sywell, Northamptonshire will notice the paddock is now barren, the pig arc unoccupied, the food trough empty. But fear not! We have four new arrivals – Gloucester Old Spots this time – moving to the village in the next month and so the whole cycle will begin again.
Pig arrival day and pig departure day are the polar opposite ends of the pig rearing experience for us. Arrival day carries with it an anticipation of getting to know our new charges. The process begins to identify which of the piglets are the real characters, which are the grumpy bullies and which are the insatiable gluttons.
And so with our summer guests now sitting in fridges, freezers or bellies we look forward to our new arrivals. And I look forward to letting you know how they’re settling in next time.
The Happy Pig Club 