Pagans have always been pig lovers, and pork eaters, one thing that always lead to our disdain amongst Jews and Muslims in the early days. The good thing about this story is, now we can hold our heads up high as lovers of the reviled swine. The bad news is, of course, we, along with Christians, will still be reviled by Jews and Muslims for at least this practice.
Still, there can be no doubt that the creation of a healthier cut of pork is welcome news, and this due to a special diet which farmers are encouraged to feed their pigs, and are actually paid a higher price to produce this leaner, healthier variety. In fact, not only is the trans fat and cholesterol content of this new breed of hog roughly the equivalent to that found in a skinless chicken breast, it has the added advantage of being higher in vitamins and minerals.
Of course, the reason for the ancient revulsion amongst Jews and Muslims for pigs has nothing to do with choleserol, the pig was just noted as an all around filthy animal, one that would, and will, eat anything. A story I heard once explains this quite aptly, dealing with a traditional German way of raising hogs.
They feed them corn. They shit out the corn. They eat their own shit, containing the corn. The corn is finally digested. You have a super fat, tasty, filling pork chop. Yes, you read all that correctly. They will not only eat their shit, they will wallow in it, as a means of keeping their bodies moist on hot days, due to an absence of sweat glands. Knowledgeable farmers therefore keep plenty of water availiable for their hogs, and feed them well, with what is commonly called “slop”, a vile concoction of field corn, with husks, apple cores, grains, and anything else imaginable that is biodegradble and non poisonous. They are not encouraged to eat their own or each others shit, though of course they still will do so given the opportunity, and the slightest hunger pangs.
So this, not some divine revelation as to the dangers of trichinosis, is the ultimate reason for the ancient Jewish revulsion for the meat of swines, especially considering that in these ancient days, pagans probably herded their swine the way we herd our cattle and sheep. Hence, the term “swineherd”. This condition enabled greater freedom for the pig, explaining the ability of the herd in the new testament to go bounding over a cliff into the ocean upon being possessed by the devils whom Christ exorcised into their bodues from that of the demon possessed man he cured.
Mostly, this made them easier to manage and to feed, as anything in their vicinity that died became food for them. By the same token, in some respects they may have been somewhat healthier than the tradfitionally raised American pig, in that this greater flexiility of movement helped lessen their cholesterol content, though at the same time trichinosis may have been even more of a problem, albeit an unknown one.
Now, of course, science may eventually breed the predisposition to trichinosis out of their systems within a few generations. This is great news altogether for us epicures, as I for my part generally love swine at least as much as chicken, and I absolutely despise skinless chicken, which is a violation of the civilization of the culinary arts, in my opinion.
Maybe they’ll even breed out of them the nasty inclination for eating shit. As long as they don’t do anything to ruin the taste though, that’s all that really matters to me.
