Bacon–It Used to Taste Even Better
Bacon.
Over the years, the flavor of bacon and pork has been severely diminished as quantity has become valued over quality. Consumers should know that choosing the cheaper meat has had dire consequences for their palate.
Here’s the skinny on what happened to flavorful, fat pigs:
The American fear of fat and the need for quick/cheap meat has caused farmers to breed the good fat out of the pig. Unfortunately, along with the fat the taste has been bred out as well. For those that enjoy sizzling bacon, rest well knowing that bacon used to be even tastier. The lack of taste can be definitively linked to the factory farming of pigs. The ideal of economic efficiency was ruthlessly applied to the pig farm. Applying the economy of scale theory to pigs, farmers produce cost-efficient pigs. The factory farm focuses on getting their pigs as fat as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. Unfortunately, the fat from corn feed produces a significantly different marbling–namely the lack of marbling. Factory farmed pigs are intentionally raised to be uniformly bland.
”You’re trying to produce pork at the lowest cost possible,” says John Mabry, director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center at Iowa State University, ”and still have an acceptable product.” It’s cheaper to feed leaner pork, he adds, and therefore the price of commercial pork at the supermarket can be lower. John Lawrence, livestock economist at Iowa State, agrees, saying that 50 to 52 pounds of pork per person are consumed annually in American homes, and compared to beef and poultry, the commercial product is ”affordable.” But the system has sacrificed taste. Pork went from being fatty to becoming extremely lean (the ”other white meat” ad campaign was intended to counteract the popularity of chicken). As far back as 1977, James Beard wrote in his book ”Theory & Practice of Good Cooking” that lean pork was less flavorful and that he hoped the ‘’streamlined” pork would soon fall out of fashion.
Fortunately, the good news for our nation’s palate is that small, free-range pig farming is making a comeback. Even though restaurateurs are paying $3-4 more per pound, they say it’s definitely worth it.
Many chefs say the cost is offset by the taste… ”You can really taste the difference,” says Sargent [chef and owner of Flora in Arlington, MA] . Rodney Murillo, a chef at Davio’s in Park Square, agrees. ”We look for tenderness in the pork, and flavor, of course,” Murillo says. Two years ago, when a purveyor suggested Niman pork, he and the other Davio’s chefs tasted several brands. ”I’m telling you, when we cooked [natural] pork chops and compared it to everything else,” he says, the difference was obvious.
It’s not only the speed and the bland feed that causes large-scale pig operations to produce lean pigs. In skinny pigs, just as in humans, mental stress can manifest itself in physical pain. The drafty, cramped confines in which they are raised cause mental harm that translates into physical harm:
”Leaner hogs are easily stressed, hyper at any moving or handling,” says [Paul Willis, owner of Niman Ranch Pork, a small-scale pig farm]. The stress hurts more than the animals’ pysche, says Willis, ”releasing lactic acid that breaks down muscle structure.” It ”results in dry, tasteless” meat, he says.
What Michael Pollan reiterates seems to ring true over and over: What’s good for the animals is good for the consumer. What’s better tasting bacon worth to you?
Indeed, if pig raising returned to the simpler bygone barnyard days, many interest groups would be happier. Â People against the cruelty of animals would have less to complain about as pigs roam wild over fields. Â Environmentalists would not be steamed over methane pools of pig excrement. Â And meat-eaters would actually enjoy tastier meat. Â So, in order to get meat that makes everyone happy, all we need to do is get rid of factory farming and raise pigs the old fashioned way. Â When pigs fly, right?
The Future?
November 19, 2008
Tags: agriculture, bacon, food, green, policy Posted in: Fun Food Facts, Health, Politics
3 Responses
Interesting flying pig. Bacon isn’t really my favorite with all the fat, but then I love bacon-flavored foods. Nice to know these facts you posted here.
Cane Sugar versus Corn Syrup or Soda Economics and the Farm Bill « Food Bubbles - November 28, 2008
[...] major companies reserve cane sugar for select batches of holiday soda. Actually, the same reason bacon isn’t as tasty factors into the production of cheap corn syrup infused sodas: Because of subsidies provided by the [...]
Hi, I’m a pig farmer and I couldn’t agree more. Well written post and very insightful. If you would like to hear my thoughts about pork, check out: http://curiousfarmer.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/better-tasting-pork-fat-is-where-its-at/
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