Are You Absolutely Satisfied with Store-Bought Pork?

written by

Sue King

posted on

February 18, 2021

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY PORK DISHES ALWAYS HAVE SO MANY SWEET SAUCES ON THEM?


For many years this question never crossed my mind. Until we started raising and eating our own pasture-raised pork.

But what lead us to start raising pigs? . Neither Larry or myself had much experience with pigs growing up. We started our married life buying all our meat in the grocery store, but then switched to sourcing it from a neighboring conventional pork producer. We were not aware that most of the pork that is available in the grocery stores comes from pigs that have never seen the light of day. They spend their whole life crowded into huge hog barns. They are fed an industry standard diet of grain with no green, living food at all. They are crowded into small spaces with many other pigs where their natural ability to move is restricted.. We discovered that the neighbor we were purchasing our pork from was raising them no differently than what we could get in the store.

Little did we know that eventually Larry would face a digestive issue from this type of pork. After certain meals he would feel sick to the stomach and end up with diarrhea. It got so bad before we clued into the cause. When we quit eating pork these issues went away.


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Now we had a dilemma. We really like pork, but couldn’t eat it anymore. Being the DIY homesteaders we were back in those days we decided to buy a couple little pigs and raise them ourselves. We knew that we didn’t want to raise them in a barn. So outside they went. These were the happiest pigs I ever saw. They were free to roam around their pasture, rooting in the soil and wallowing in the mud while searching for whatever they thought was tasting to eat. We fed them grains from a neighbor, kitchen scraps and milk from our milk cow.

When they were big enough to harvest we sent them to the processor, not knowing if we would even be able to eat this pork. Much to our delight Larry had not adverse reaction to the meat. It was delicious! The meat was firm, not mushy like barn raised pork. It also had a richness to it that we had never experienced before.

We thought that we couldn’t be the only people who had experienced something similar and wished for a pleasurable eating experience. This success started us on a new farming adventure; raising pastured pork for sale.

Encouraged by the success we had with our first pigs we decided to purchase our breeding herd. We have tried many breeds of pigs over the years and have settled on the Berkshire breed. They are a heritage pig that mature slower thus producing an excellent quality meat and the best lard fat that I think you can get. I have heard it said that Berkshire pork is the gold standard of pork among chefs. Besides that they are very personable and entertaining to have around! And mischievous.

I now know why store-bought pork needed sauces. Because of the way conventional pork is raised it is bland and flavorless.

I truly believe from personal experience that all animals that we raise for food need to be able to live in conditions that are natural for them and have the ability to express their god-given characteristics. When we domesticated animals we became responsible to steward them well. We strive to do just this with all our animals.

One of my favorite cuts of pork is the Boston Butt. This is a shoulder roast that sometimes is made into smoked ham, but fresh it is a juicy, tender, melt-in-your mouth piece of meat. This is the cut that pulled-pork is made from. It is an economical cut that we also use to make ground pork and our special gluten-free, nitrate-free sausages.

When you purchase our pasture-raised pork you will experience what real pork should taste like.

We offer a variety of cuts to suit your needs:

  • Boneless Pork Chops
  • Traditionally salt-cured and smoked ham and bacon
  • Whole Tenderloin
  • Boston Butt
  • Ground Pork
  • Breakfast Sausages

Do you want to try my simple Boston Butt roast recipe? It’s so simple. I place the roast on a rack in my cast-iron dutch-oven. Add a little water. Sprinkle chopped onions on top (I used my home-grown dehydrated onions)salt and pepper. Roast until the internal temperature reaches 160F. I slice it and serve with apple sauce, oven roasted potatoes and a veggie. You can also try my pulled pork recipe. I adjust the recipe by removing the sugar and ketchup and use tomato paste and bone broth instead. (I really limit sugar in my everyday diet).

You can purchase our pasture-raised pork from our online store or from us at the Grande Prairie Farmers Market on Fridays or Saturdays.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our family, our environment and our dream of being your local farm.

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