Educasting Study Guide on Food, Sustainability, and Society
Savoring Swine:
The Economics and Politics of Pork
Introduction: Zenobia Barlow of the Center for Ecoliteracy
Track 1: Program Synopsis
The way the meat Americans eat is raised, slaughtered and handled has undergone dramatic changes in the last half century. We’ve moved from small to mid-sized farms, where pigs and cattle root and graze, to an industrial system that confines thousands of animals in feedlots and closed sheds with little or no freedom of movement and where they seldom see the light of day. They are then slaughtered using techniques that critics say are exceptionally cruel.
In order to produce this much meat at the competitive prices consumers have come to expect, the diets, mobility, health care and overall well-being of these creatures have had to be severely compromised. What are the ramifications of this new industrial meat production system? Is there another way to raise animals for meat that is more humane while remaining financially sustainable in a highly competitive marketplace? Mark Sommer and the guests in this program wrestle with these and other difficult questions in the course of examining hog production and marketing using both conventional and alternative techniques. Guests include Michael Pollan, bestselling author and University of California Berkeley journalist; Lisa Siebrecht, Eden Farms pig farmer in Curlew, Iowa; Paul Willis, manager of organic meat producer Niman Ranch Pork Company in Thornton, Iowa; industry spokesman Mark Boggess, Director of the Department of Animal Science at the National Pork Board, and Dr. Temple Grandin; well-known author, adviser to MacDonald’s and other major fast food companies, and professor at Colorado State University.
Track 2
Michael Pollan
Journalist and professor of science and environmental journalism at University of California, Berkeley
author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Guest Bio:
Michael Pollan is UC Berkeley Journalism Professor, contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, a former long-time executive editor for Harper's Magazine, and author of The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (2001), A Place of My Own (1997), and Second Nature: a Gardener's Education (1991). His latest book is The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006). His recent work has dealt with the practices of the meat industry and trends in American agriculture.
www.michaelpollan.com
Track 3
Lisa Siebrecht
Eden Farms pig farmer
Curlew, Iowa
Guest Bio:
Lisa Siebrecht raises pork, soybeans, corn, and alfalfa with her husband Dale and her parents on her grandparent’s farm new Curlew in the Northwest corner of Iowa. Their farm is a member of the Eden Natural Pork Producers coalition, independent farmers who are the largest supplier of high-quality certified Berkshire pork. The hogs are raised in an environmentally friendly way, and producers follow a strict code of humane husbandry.
www.betterpork.com
Track 4
Paul Willis
Manager of Niman Ranch Pork Company
Thornton, Iowa
Guest Bio:
Pork Farmer Paul Willis manages the Niman Ranch Pork Company, a network of more than 500 family hog producers. He and his wife Phyllis also raise 2,500 Farmer’s Hybrid hogs on the farm where he grew up in Thornton, Iowa. The pigs are raised outdoors in straw-bedded hoop houses, without the use of anti-biotics, hormones or animal by-products. Willis also grows non-genetically modified soybeans, alfalfa and oats for feed and bedding, and his pastures are certified organic.
www.nimanranch.com
Track 5
Mark Boggess
Director of Department of Animal Science at the National Pork Board
Guest Bio:
Dr. Mark Boggess is director of animal science at the National Pork Board, working with research programs in biotechnology, alternatives to antibiotics and the longevity of sows. He is also responsible for development of educational material for producers and veterinarians.
www.pork.org
Track 6
Dr. Temple Grandin
Author and professor at Colorado State University
Guest Bio:
Dr. Temple Grandin is an author, a designer of innovative livestock handling facilities and a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She has designed facilities in many countries and a professor of animal science at Colorado State University. She also has developed a scoring system for assessing the handling of cattle and pigs at meat plants, used by many corporations to improve animal welfare. Her book Animals in Translation was a best-seller, and she is the author of three other books and more than 300 articles in scientific journals and livestock periodicals.
www.grandin.com