The Blessed Pig

[PaleoPhil]

Christopher Hitchens is one of the few public figures in all of human history to recognize and expound upon what my grandfather did decades ago (perhaps not coincidentally, both men were of Irish extraction): confine the pig and he will behave poorly (from a modern human perspective), but give him his natural space and he is a clean, "godly" animal. As my grandfather said decades ago, "There are no dirty pigs, just dirty farmers":

Christopher Hitchens - A Short Digression on the Pig; or, Why Heaven Hates Ham

The sin is not with the pig, but with the man that confines him. The crime lies not with God for making the pig, but with man for confining the poor creature. Slavery is the crime, not existence. Pigs and humans are not created bad or broken, just made bad by the modern constrictions to which they are poorly adapted. Blessed be the pig!

The pig shows the way to liberation: both the pig and the human need their space. The pig is a test of our virtue: if we treat him well, he is sublime, if we treat him poorly, he quickly embodies and reveals this maltreatment.

"Let's start with one simple idea: Mother Nature isn't stupid. She didn't make human beings the only species that prefers foods that will kill us." - Tom Naughton

"Human beings are not broken, by default." - Angelo Coppola

...nor are pigs. Men broke pigs, not mother nature. In pigs we see the evil that we created. Correct our own errors and the pig will become heavenly.

[TylerDurden]

Yes, it's true that pigs have gotten an undeserved reputation  presumably because of the influence of the kosher/halal laws. Not sure if Christians ever forbade pork consumption, and I don't think Buddhism or Hinduism had laws against that(?). Not that I ever bother to eat the stuff as I cannot get pastured, non-grainfed pork anywhere in Europe. I can get hold of raw wild boar, though.

Pigs, appear to be, incidentally, the most intelligent farm animals, being cleverer even than dogs:-

http://chris-mclaughlin.suite101.com/the-intelligent-pig-a84448

[miles]

Pigs will also eat you if you fall unconscious in their pen.

[ys]

Not sure if Christians ever forbade pork consumption

Most Christians do not object to pork.  But few do such as Seventh-day Adventists.

[cherimoya_kid]

Pigs will also eat you if you fall unconscious in their pen.

Sometimes they'll just eat you if you come in the pen  at all. ROFL 

[PaleoPhil]

Pigs will also eat you if you fall unconscious in their pen.

LOL Another good reason not to confine them in small pens.

[Dorothy]

Is there much if any difference between a wild boar and a pig except how they are allowed to live?

Pigs are OUTRAGEOUSLY intelligent. I once saw a video of a pig spliced with human genes being raised in god-awful conditions (it couldn't even stand) and the intelligence and suffering in that animals eyes still haunts me today. Cruelty without bounds.

[TylerDurden]

Is there much if any difference between a wild boar and a pig except how they are allowed to live?

  Wild boars get access to a much wider range of nutrition than even the healthiest, pastured pig. They eat things like roots, worms, carrion, bark etc. They also get more exercise, so their raw meat has a much higher level of taste and nutrient-level.

[Dorothy]

 

  Wild boars get access to a much wider range of nutrition than even the healthiest, pastured pig. They eat things like roots, worms, carrion, bark etc. They also get more exercise, so their raw meat has a much higher level of taste and nutrient-level.

Thanks Tyler. I mean - is there anything physiologically different about them - or are wild boar the same animal as a pig except that they get to eat and live better?

[TylerDurden]

Thanks Tyler. I mean - is there anything physiologically different about them - or are wild boar the same animal as a pig except that they get to eat and live better?

No, pigs have been very heavily (in)bred for many millenia in order to be different from wild boars. I suppose, that, like with dogs and wolves, that if they were left to fend for themselves in the wild, that they would in a few generations become identical to wild boars, though.

[Dorothy]

Makes sense. They've probably been bred to have more parts that people like to eat the most and for qualities like docility that make them easier to farm... like chickens?

I can get wild boar and maybe even fresh but my dogs didn't want the frozen version so I didn't try any and I didn't explore getting it fresh more. I won't eat things that my dogs refuse to eat - since they will eat just about anything. I wonder if it wasn't something those particular boar ate.

[RawZi]

Sometimes they'll just eat you if you come in the pen  at all. ROFL 

    A pig nipped me; because the farmer called him over to meet me.  I think the farmer called him the same way when he would bring him food. I wish he would have spoken to him in a sentence, like: "pig, come meet rawzi", rather than the words he used to call: "pig, pig".  The pigs came running across the big green field and surrounded me, and I guess you could say I did a jig to avoid getting a hard bite or getting nipped again. Since, when I visit them, I make sure the farmer isn't the one to call them, if anyone.  I wonder if he introduces them to other people, or just me, it must be obvious I like animals a lot themselves in addition to eating them.

    Sorry about the rambling, and I wouldn't say any of the pigs around here are in pens.  All the farmers, which are few, that I've seen with pigs have them in pastures, keeping them in a smaller more protected area when they give birth and are suckling.

[Dorothy]

Zi - those pigs just knew that you were fed really well so would taste good. 

[cherimoya_kid]

Zi - those pigs just knew that you were fed really well so would taste good. 

ROFL

[svrn]

so do you eat raw pork regularly? Can it be fed any grain?