Jimmy's Farm--why am I writing about pork in times like these?

Last night, I decided to find out if there are guinea pig fanciers' groups on Facebook, The good news is, I found some, and there are hundreds. As I clicked through the search results, I found pictures of a guinea pig village. Now that I am looking to buy a house, I am also thinking about what I want in my new yard, and now--in addition to the clothesline, fruit trees, and picnic table--I want a miniature village for Paco and his successors to run around in.
Where was this beautiful cavy community in the pictures? I searched, and I found Jimmy's Farm. (OK, just his website. The farm is too far away.) Jimmy's Farm is in Suffolk, UK. Jimmy himself is a childhood friend of "Naked Chef" Jamie Oliver, who loaned some of the money to start the farm. Jimmy's Farm was the subject of three BBC documentary series. The farm raises rare breeds of pigs, cows, and sheep, much like one would raise "heirloom" varieties of plants. If it weren't for farms like this actively working to continue these varieties of animals, these breeds would be extinct, because industrialized "factory farming" favors animals that fatten up faster, more weight meaning more money, and in the case of the cow breeds, give more milk. Industrialized farming is all about quantity, but, as Jimmy's Farm and others would assert, the superior quality of the meat and milk from these rare breeds makes them worth perpetuating.
The method of raising pigs also makes a difference.

Last summer, my cousins raised three pigs from piglets to 200+ pounds. The last few family potlucks, their contributions have been their home-grown pork, and the hams prepared by the local butcher who was paid in part with the smallest pig. It was the best pork I have ever had. The kids live on the extended family homestead where Mom's cousin still grows vegetables, but it is nothing like the farm was in its heyday in Mom's childhood. The pig's pen was set up out back, far enough away from the house that the smell wouldn't go that far. The pen was about the size of a small bedroom, but the pigs were happy in it. Factory farming confines animals to tiny quarters, so they're not happy, and cramming animals is not conducive to good health.
That was the best pork I have ever had in my life and most likely the healthiest. It will be a long time before I can have any like it again, since free-range pork is not what is available in a regular non-Whole Foods supermarket. Maybe swine flu wouldn't be such an issue if the pigs lived in conditions that let their bodies thrive and fight off infections. I'm not a veterinarian or an epidemiologist, but I have a hunch.




Jimmy's Recipes


Meat Cookery Tips from Jimmy