Organic Pork: Getting Fatter and Fatter All the Time, Slowly but Surely

Finding organic pork at groceries and farmer's markets has been difficult. When I do find organic pork, I have to ask myself, "Do I want to live high on the hog?" The price per pound is as much as five to ten times as high as the everyday pork that is from pigs that aren't produced through organic means. Still, I'm not going to eat pigs that aren't raised through organic means, because almost always those pigs are raised in deplorable conditions, including countering such by administering them antibiotics and feeding them arsenic. Though what's encouraging, I snooted around the USDA and found it reports organic pigs and hogs are getting fatter and fatter all the time, albeit slowly but surely.

This Little Piggie Went to the Market, This Little Piggie Stayed Home

In 1997, there were a whopping 482 organic pigs and hogs in all of the U.S., reports Economic Research Service, USDA. Three long years later, in 2000, the number of organic pigs and hogs had grown to nothing but a little over 1700, and that was only because Iowa had finally gotten into raising organic pigs. By far, Iowa raises more pigs than any other state.

The following year saw near double the number of oinkers, but in both 2002 and 2004 the number dipped lower than each respective previous year. The subsequent lower numbers were because the USDA determined some of the swine were no longer organic, but more likely, the total number of pigs staying home--farrowing sows and subsequent farrowings ( litters of piglets ) weaned--weren't enough to offset the number of pigs going to market. In other words, more organic pork was butchered for market than piglets weaned and raised so as to keep increasing rather than decreasing the total number to the herd of organic pigs.

By 2005, organic hogs and pigs still had only barely grunted past 10,000. And again, the total number of organic hogs and pigs wallowed in the mud instead of growing in numbers the following year, declining to 7508 organic hogs and pigs in 2006; sows still hadn't farrowed enough piglets in 2007 to climb back over the 10,000 head mark, only reaching 9274 organic hogs and pigs. As many as three years later, in 2008, the total number to the herd of organic hogs and pigs was still 7 less than it was in 2005.

I'm not sure if it's the same on the ethically-superior organic pig farm, but according to how U.S. economics works in the pork industry-at-large, farrowing sows are culled from the herd once they're about 4 years old. By then each sow will have averaged 10 piglets per litter, twice a year, for about three years, or a total of six litters per sow lifetime. Whether or not those same numbers apply to organic pork, the year to year increases and decreases in total numbers to the organic pig herd through 11 years saw an average increase every year of 866 organic pigs to the herd.

Heeere... Soo-ee! Soo-ee! Soo-ee!

While I'm beginning to see more and more organic pork showing up at groceries, such as Whole Foods and Wegmans, it's still far and few between. There simply aren't many little piggies going to the market, because neither are there many little piggies at home-on the farm. Though if I had to venture a guess, I'd say for the past three years about 500,000 pounds of organic pork are going to market each year.

While that may seem like a large number, organic pork is comparatively still a scarcity on the market. The average weight of a boneless pork chop is near a half pound, which is approximately one serving.Multiplying 500,000 pounds of organic pork by two servings per pound equals 1,000,000 servings of organic pork per year. More than a million people eat organic pork, yet only one millionservings of it is available throughout the year

More than a million people eat organic pork, yet only one million pounds of it is available throughout the year. That means if only 1,000,000 persons eat organic pork, each person can eat organic pork once per year. Personally, I can count on one, maybe two, hands how many times this year my wife and I even had the opportunity to"live high on the hog." Organic pork is getting fatter and fatter, but it's certainly slowly but surely.

Sources:

Marketing U.S. Organic Foods: Recent Trends From Farms to Consumers, Carolyn Dimitri and Lydia Oberholtzer, USDA, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib58/eib58.pdf

Sow Productivity, USDA, http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahms/swine/downloads/nss92/nss_is_sow.pdf

Hypor, http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WlCSeiz3RyEJ:www.hypor.com/dynamic.php%3Ffirst%3D4815f5bded094%26second%3D4850ae98a485e+number+of+litters+per+sow&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

National Agriculture Statistics Service, USDA, http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/HogsPigs/HogsPigs-12-27-2010.pdf