Give a Pig a Pancake
Confession Time
I have a confession to make. I love smoking. That first morning cigarette or that cigarette you savor with a cup of rich coffee, or that quickie while on the phone, or that nice relaxing smoke while driving on the interstate highway, or that first smoke right after work. That cigarette you share with your spouse after a satisfying meal or some other satisfying activity. And that last cigarette of the day … I love them all.
I just don’t smoke anymore. Haven’t smoked in years. Don’t plan to start back.
I didn’t just say that you shouldn’t smoke. I am saying that I no longer smoke. I am saying that I have my reasons. I am saying that it is not a decision I came to lightly or without any regrets.
Because of educating myself, I naturally realize how much harm is being done when someone smokes. Having the benefit of that knowledge is very different than casting judgements on the choice.
Not long ago, I chuckled in agreement when noted author and food critic, Jeffrey Steingarten, said, “The only thing better than bacon is chocolate.”
I have a further confession to make. I love bacon. And pork chops. And ham sandwiches. And pork tenderloin! Oh man, pork tenderloin! And barbecued pork ribs, and ham, and pulled-pork sandwiches, and chitterlings (chitlin) gravy. And greens cooked with salt pork, and beans baked with fat back, and pork tamales, and breakfast sausage, and pepperoni pizza, and pigs in a blanket. It’s true. I*heart*pork.
I just don’t eat pork anymore.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t eat pork. I am saying that I don’t eat pork. I’m not saying that I don’t understand why people like eating pig. I am saying I love the flavor, fully understand, the appeal, have practical experience with it myself, but I just don’t eat it. I am saying that I have my reasons. I am saying that it is not a decision I came to lightly or without any regrets.
One of the tenets that we live by is best said in Romans 14:2-17. What you eat, and what we eat, what we feed our families, is a choice. When we are criticized for our choice to follow God’s dietary laws with respect to eating clean real food, it always strikes us as kind of strange. There is hardly a more personal choice in the world than what one chooses to consume.
Outside of the odd critic, we have received a lot of questions about why we choose clean real food, and especially with respect to pork and bottom feeders, so I thought those two needed some specific explanation. This post will focus on pork.
Making the Grade
Did you know that the USDA meat grading is strictly voluntary and that the plants have to pay for grading? USDA grades for beef include Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter, and Canner while for Chicken, Turkey, Duck, and other inspected game birds can be graded as A through F.
You are only ever likely to see Prime, Choice, Select, or Standard beef and you are only ever likely to see grade A fowl in the supermarket. Still, have you ever wondered why you just never see USDA graded pork? Like any kind of USDA grade for pork?
The USDA does not grade pork the way they do beef or fowl. They have exactly two grades for pork meat, “Acceptable” and “Utility,” and those grades are entirely accurate.
The USDA cannot give pork an A or B grade like with fowl, nor can they grade pork Prime, Choice, Select, or even Standard — nothing above “Acceptable” — like they can with beef. The reason is because swine flesh is loaded with bacteria, parasites, and toxins. When a pig is butchered, worms and insects take to its flesh sooner and faster than to other animal’s flesh. From the time of slaughter, exactly nothing is done to sterilize or purify pork meat in any way.
While they won’t give pigs standard grades, the USDA does provide pamphlets that advise consumers to fully cook all pork products to avoid getting sick or hosting a parasite.
On average, supermarket pork has over a dozen parasites. A high school kid posted a video where he faked a few pork chops taking the “Pepsi Challenge” that gives birth to parasitic worms. While this is funny, and staged the fact is that if you marinate raw pork in a slightly acidic sugary liquid, you can often culture live parasites.
There is no safe temperature at which pork can be cooked to ensure that all these parasites, their cysts, and all the eggs will be killed off. In addition, microwave ovens heat unevenly, practically ensuring that some of those varmints will survive the heating process.
Is Pork Really Unclean?
There is a program called PQA plus or Pork Quality Assurance. It’s a program that modern American pig producers must follow to be able to bring large amounts of swine to market. The program instructs farmers on such things as how to vaccinate their pigs as well as using stalls with slatted floors so that the pig droppings fall through. There are guidelines for birthing, especially if the sow delivers a large litter. There are guidelines for segregating any sick or injured animals. In other words, most of the guidelines of the PQA program are there in an attempt to head-off the very nature of pigs.
Pigs are scavengers, basically land-borne bottom feeders. They are notorious for eating anything, including rats, maggots, dead or decaying animal flesh, their own cancerous growths or those on other animals, garbage, and excrement. A pig will eat sick animals, infected animals, and dead animals. Many chicken farmers keep half a dozen pigs on hand to toss in dead chickens so they need not bury them.
Remember how feeding cow meat to living cattle brought us Mad Cow disease? Pigs are cannibalistic. They eat other pigs, including their own piglets — those that die from disease or starvation, or living piglets who are runts in large litters which explains the PQA birthing guidelines.
Pigs have one the quickest and poorest digestive systems of any animal. Cows, for example, have a complex digestive system with four stomachs and they repeatedly masticate ruminants (chew cud). It thus takes over 24 hours for bovines to digest their all vegetarian diet causing a cow’s food to be largely purified of toxins. By contrast, a swine’s single stomach takes only about 4 hours to digest its largely toxic diet. Since it processes everything so quickly, those toxins are not removed and are mainly stored in the pig’s flesh and fat.
Pig meat has twice as much fat as beef. While a 3 oz T bone steak contains 8.5 grams of fat, in comparison a 3 oz pork chop contains 18 grams of fat. While a 3 oz beef rib has 11.1 grams of fat, in comparison a 3 oz pork spare rib has 23.2 grams of fat. In addition to having much more fat, the fat is much more saturated with toxins.
Perspiration is one means by which toxins are removed from the body. Unlike other mammals, a pig does not perspire. Toxins remain within its body, in the meat and the fat. The pig was designed with a natural sewer line, or canal, running down each leg with an outlet in the bottom of the split foot. Out of this aperture oozes pus and filth its body cannot pass into its system fast enough. When farmers squeeze the pig’s foot to check the color of this pus, they call it “pig gravy.” Naturally, some of this toxic pus is in the leg meat of the pig.
Another means by which toxins are removed via urine. In the case of pigs, noting the uric acid content in the blood, the pig’s biochemistry excretes only 2 percent of its total uric acid content, while the remaining 98 percent remains as an integral part of the body and blood of the animal.
Not only do pigs store poisons, but they tolerate them. Midwestern farmers will very often pen up pigs near any rattlesnake nests they discover on their property, because the pigs will eat the snakes, and if bitten the pigs are not harmed by the rattlesnake venom. Pigs are so tolerant of poisons that they can withstand massive doses of industrial grade strychnine or arsenic, for example, and show no ill effects. Those poisons remain largely in the meat and fat of the pork.
Bottom line — pork can be as much as 30 times more toxic than either beef or venison.
What Did You Just Eat?
You are what you eat holds true, as well as you are what your food ate. When it comes to what farm raised pigs eat, there are basically two schools of thought. One school feeds their pigs a specially formulated pig meal, and the other feeds their pigs garbage.
Yes, pigs are fed — and eat — straight garbage. The “grain feeders” call them garbage guts. When the Egyptian government decided to kill all of Cairo’s pigs in the spring of 2009 in what they saw as a preemptive strike against influenza, they forgot that pigs ate 1,500 tons of garbage every week. That nation’s capital quickly started swimming in their own garbage as a result. The city of Philadelphia has saved more than $30 million dollars a year since 1988 feeding its garbage to contracted pig farms in central Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey. The garbage fed pigs are sold directly to slaughterhouses.
Most pigs which are allegedly “grain” fed, are actually fed plentiful amounts of specially formulated pig feed meal which is sometimes made from things like genetically modified corn or Grade C and below “feed” corn. In recent days, that kind of corn goes mainly into ethanol research and other energy related commercial applications.
So, modern pig feed meal is made primarily from soy solids leftover from the industrial processing of soybeans into soybean oil and other marketable soy products. That’s right. The best cared for pigs in America are getting mega-doses of unfermented soy. Unfermented soy has been shown to be a hormone emulator and a hormone disruptor which mimics oestrogen.
USDA claims that no hormones are used in the production of pigs. This is not strictly true.
Mega-doses of soy cause off the chart estrogen levels in the pigs, whose biology is very similar to that of human beings. Understand, this is not like a hormone shot administered to a steer which is completely gone from the animal inside of 30 days. This is what the pigs eat every single day and what alters and directly affects their own metabolic and hormonal functions. Eating even graded “Acceptable” grain fed pork can result in elevated oestrogen levels and lowered testosterone in human beings, which is directly harmful to women of any age — but especially if pregnant — and can be particularly harmful to boys and young men. The increased consumption of unfermented soy from a variety of vectors by European and American men could be a contributing factor to the more than 70% drop in testosterone levels since 1945.
Swine ‘Flu with Your Eggs?
Everyone knows to “thoroughly cook” pork to kill all of the parasites in the meat. Personally, the idea of intentionally eating dead parasites is none too appetizing either. Pig flesh can contain parasites like Schistosoma, Trichenella, wire worms, fluke worms, and tapeworms such as Taenia solium. Humans can easily contract toxoplasmosis, eaeniasis, cysticercosis, and thrichinellosis. The trichinae worm is microscopically small, and once ingested can lodge itself in human intestines, muscles, spinal cord, or the even the brain. The symptoms of thrichinellosis are often masked, and often presents in such a way that medical professionals mistake the condition for other diseases, such as typhoid, arthritis, rheumatism, gastritis, MS, meningitis, gall stones, or acute alcoholism. Is it fair to ask if you have ever experienced unexplained muscle pain, fever, headache, or swelling?
Every single cell in a pig contains a retrovirus that makes them walking test-tubes ready and willing to incubate brand new viral strains. In high-tech laboratories where microbiological research and tests are conducted that place emphasis on diagnosing and treating cancer in humans, the carcinogenic vectors that cause cancer can actually be isolated from a patient’s blood and cultured to assist in treatment efforts. Oncological researchers in those labs know that pig fat is the best medium on earth to grow cancer cells in a petri dish.
The University of Geissen’s Institute for Virology in Germany presented in a study of worldwide influenza epidemics that pigs are the one animal that can serve as a mixing vessel for new influenza viruses that may seriously threaten world health.
If a pig is exposed to a human’s virus and then a bird’s virus, the pig’s cells mix those two viruses–thus developing a brand new DNA virus that is often extremely harmful or even lethal to birds — or humans — or both. In light of recent pandemic outbreaks, virologists like Chriastoph Scholtissek, M.D., have concluded that if we do not find a way to separate humans from pigs, the entire earth’s population may be at risk.
Why do you suppose that many modern pig farms require their workers to wear protective clothing and impermeable boots and gloves, eye-protection, and breathing masks when working with the animals? In addition, most also require that their workers shower at the ends of their shifts before returning to their homes
Bring no Unclean Offering…
Although today many Chinese are avid pork eaters, traditionally, Confucianists also did not eat pork. The 3,000 year old Confucian Book of Rites says, “A gentleman does not eat the flesh of pigs and dogs.” Buddhists, Jains, and Hindus usually avoid eating any kind of meat, which would include pork.
Faithful Muslims, Jews, and Christians are forbidden to eat the flesh of swine. For Muslims, the prohibition is detailed the Qur’an in verses 2:173, 5:3, 6:145, and 16:115 with verses like, “He has only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine…”
Jews who keep kosher do not consume pork of any kind, even to the point of avoiding pills or capsules manufactured with pig cartilage as the gelatin base. They are bound by the Torah, or the Laws of Moses, as detailed in the first five books of the Bible.
The prohibition against eating pork is well documented in the first five books (Leviticus 11:4-8; 26-28; 7:23 and Deuteronomy 14:8). It comes down to a fairly easy to understand and very simple instruction that God stated as “a perpetual statute for your generations (Leviticus 3:17)” which is this: Don’t eat pork.
The prophet Isaiah includes the eating of pork among the many disobedient acts of stubborn people who, in addition to sexual abominations, idolatry, and conjuring spirits of the dead, “continually provoke me to my very face… who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold the broth of unclean meat.” (Isaiah 65:3-4)
In the last book of Isaiah, the prophet tells of the end of days and he is talking about how the Lord will come and render His final judgement. It reads, “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, to go to the gardens After an idol in the midst,” So he is talking about people who trust in their own wisdom and who are not sanctified by God. Look how the verse ends;. “‘Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together,’ says the Lord. (Isaiah 66:15-17)
It can certainly be said that the Jewish people have applied a large amount of legalism to the practice of the Law, taking steps far beyond the literal or intended meanings. Even so, many Christians believe the dietary laws as they were literally said or were intended by the Lord somehow only apply to Jews and somehow do not apply to Christians.
During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17) Personally, I believe it is important to remember that Christ Jesus was born under the Law of Moses (Galatians 4:4) and kept the law every single day that He lived on this earth. This means He never ate pig, nor ever even touched the carcass of a pig.
In fact, Christ never says anything particularly complimentary of pigs, nor does he do pigs any favors. The only documented occurrence of Christ interacting with swine, He used a large herd of them as a dumping ground for demons by first casting the demons out of a tormented man and then destroying every last one of the pigs. (Matthew 8:28-32)
In speaking of pigs, Christ compares swine to hypocrites and cautions the faithful not to offer pearls to the swine or else those treasures will be trampled and then the swine would turn around and devour the believers. (Matthew 7:6)
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, Christ related how the errant son descended through a life of shameful debauchery and excess into shameful poverty and desperation. The “final straw” falls, though, when the prodigal finds himself eating slop next to pigs. (Luke 15:16) It was that event that was the “rock-bottom” life low that caused the prodigal to return home to his father.
Some Christians say that after a vision by Peter, God cleansed all animals and made them fit and lawful for human consumption. If all animals are cleansed by Peter’s vision, this includes pigs as well as dogs. Somehow, you don’t see Christians getting all excited about a dog-meat sandwich like they do over barbecued pork. In speaking of both dogs and pigs, Peter said this:
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:20-22
Some Christians say that the Apostle Paul rescinded the law forbidding pork to humans, in order to appease the Romans, who enjoyed the taste of pig-meat. That takes us back to the book of Romans 14:2-17 which centers on a debate by early believers about whether a clean animal became unclean if that type of animal had ever been put on an alter as an offering to a false god or an idol. The debate was not about whether unclean animals, like pigs, were now deemed clean. It was about whether clean animals, such as lambs, had been made unclean by virtue of pagan practices.
As Christians, we are commanded to set ourselves apart. People say, ‘Well God doesn’t care.’ Well I beg to respectfully disagree. I think that the Lord God does care, and He makes it very clear in His holy word over and over and over again.
Obviously, eating clean food and abstaining from unclean food is not the key to our salvation. But it is a deliberate act of worship as well as a demonstration of an informed choice that defies the ignorance of unbelievers. Our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit; and we’re not to bring unclean animals into that Temple as an offering.
Hallee
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Thank you so much for explaining it all in a way I could totally understand. I got my book The Maker’s Diet today. I can’t wait to crack it open. Hopefully you won’t become exhausted with all my questions, that I know I am going to have. lol
Yeah I don’t feel so alone in my secret love of smoing. I confess I loved smoking too…I miss it so much. But I know that I am healthy for not doing it and setting a good example for my children by not smoking. But oh how I love it.. Thank you for this wonderful blog…
Wow, I didn’t know any of this. I’m going to be showing this to my hubby when he gets home. I’m defiantly thinking the bacon has to go!
Your husband will hate me! LOL
Hi Hallee,
This part really bothered me: “Oncological researchers in those labs know that pig fat is the best medium on earth to grow cancer cells in a petri dish.”
I’ve wondered about this since reading the Maker’s Diet, but always come back to the fact that just as it is with factory farmed beef, there is no comparison between conventional pork and pork from a farmer you trust. If my farmer is controlling what the pigs eat, not letting them eat soy, dead animals, or any of the other gross stuff you mentioned, and my pig is what he eats (and I am what he eats), then I feel comfortable eating it because I trust my farmer. (And know his family eats it, too.)
Biblically, I’m not convinced that we are required to be under the strict old Jewish laws, and instead, since Jesus came, we are now under the “new law” He came to bring us. This is one verse I found:
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ (Col. 2:16-17).”
I am not completely confident about this topic, though, and think it would be great to get more discussion going on it, especially since you provided such a well-written argument. I’m going to post this Monday and hopefully more people will jump in to share their thoughts. I’m also going to ask my farmer to read this and get his take.
Thanks, Hallee!
Kelly
Hi- I believe as the Bible of John ‘s book says that a man is pure even as he is pure. We are pure because of what we eat & don’t eat & how we purify our system with fasting & prayer. The purer the food, the less blood of Christ needs to purify our system & it can go to heal others etc.. blessings. Also there is evidence scientifically that pigs have human genes or other such mutations from the past that makes them more like humans then other animals so we pick up that energy too. It takes more Holy Spirit to clean oneself from a pork dinner then a chicken etc.. fowl dinner. It won’t hurt you to eat it except as I suggest here & we all want salvation & resurrection which is easier without the pork to densify us more.
I’m with Kelly. I was always taught that we are no longer bound to the dietary laws of the Old Testament. As for what factory farmed pigs eat . . . ew! Makes the “pricey” organically raised pigs at the farm where I get my raw milk seem like a bargain!
It is really refreshing to see Christians upholding the dietary Law, between Muslims and Jews, the practice of Christians was really lacking in this regard, and this post has many insights and reasons to support the wisdom behind the prohibition of pork.
I would add that avoiding pork is not the only requirement for Christians, Jews and Muslims, you also have to pronounce the name of God over animals at the time of slaughter – it was practiced back in the day but this too has died out among Christian societies of modern times.
I’m not trying to rile anything up, but do you keep ALL the Levitical laws? I’m unclear on how you would go about justifying not obeying all the laws–other than sacrifice–with what you’ve laid out here.
I think the other reasons are definitely enough. I’m considering giving up pork for health reasons alone…
Hi VW and thank you for asking. What a great question!
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I guess the first thing I should say is that we are neither perfect nor really very strict. The next thing I would like to reiterate is that we never tell anyone else what they should or should not eat, or what they should or should not offer to their families. In addition, when we are guests at someone else’s table, we bless our meals and eat what is offered gratefully and in fellowship, in the spirit of the hospitality in which it was offered to us, without critique or reproach.
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That said, we do our very best to follow a Levitical diet. The more we have studied about the Levitical dietary laws, the more we have been convicted to follow them for both 1) health reasons and also 2) as an act of grateful worship to our Creator by whose hand all things were made and passed down to us. But life is all about balance, stewardship, and intent.
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We strive to follow the Levitical dietary laws as completely and as often as possible within the intent of ministry. Being a guest at someone’s table is a great example. If our host or hostess were to prepare us a catfish dinner, or a shrimp cocktail, or a ham sandwich, we must ask if it would hurt our witness to turn down what is offered. Maybe, and maybe not — so we strive to find that balance.
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Do we avoid smoking for the obvious health reasons? Or do we avoid smoking because our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and not inhaling toxic smoke is the appropriate and grateful act as a worshipful believer? And the answer to both is “Yes” and the two factors balance into our decisions regarding smoking. Would it hurt our witness to turn down a cigarette? Being as that we are former smokers ourselves and so many people in our community smoke? Maybe, and maybe not — so we strive to find that balance.
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Does it hurt to say *I* don’t smoke instead of *YOU* shouldn’t smoke? Does it hurt to say *I* don’t eat pork instead of *YOU* shouldn’t eat pork? One is a personal decision and the other is a judgement. Which would hurt our witness? Either? Neither? Both?
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Most food we can purchase outside of the produce aisle of the grocery store contains some kind of chemicals like high fructose corn syrup, MSG, artificial sweeteners, denatured something-or-other, or things that have been processed by man to the point that they are actually harmful such, as unfermented soy and “enriched” white flour. Sometimes it is just impossible to find alternatives for a needed ingredient in a timely manner. So what do you do? Sacrifice your plans and time-frame and make and eat something else? Or compromise to accommodate your time-frame and desired end result? Do you have time to make your own bread or do you buy that loaf made with “enriched” flour, sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, and loaded with artificial coloring?
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Like everyone else, we make the best choice we can at the time and we come to those decisions prayerfully.
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If you are interested in the science behind the Levitical dietary laws, I would encourage you to check out our bookshelf or the Our Diet link up there for additional resources. We are still learning, believe me.
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Thanks for asking and may God bless you. I hope this answers satisfies. Gregg
We don’t keep all of the Levitcal laws. For instance, we don’t follow the laws about mildew. But, if I lived in a land without bleach and Lysol, I might, because I understand that as with the dietary laws, the cleansing laws are in place to keep the people healthy and protected. We don’t follow the laws about bodily discharge, open sores, and cleansing rituals, but, again, we have superior medical practices, clean environments, soap, and disinfectants and if we didn’t, it would probably be the safest idea to follow the laws as laid out by God. My husband does shave his beard and cuts his hair, but if he chose not to as an act of worship I would be good with that.
Everything else, we pretty much do, as it applies to us. For instance, we don’t have fields or vineyards or slaves, so they don’t apply. Starting the beginning of the Jewish calendar, we will be observing the feasts. And obviously we don’t need to do any sacrificing or mete out or receive punishment for sin, because Jesus became the sacrifice for all, and received retribution for all sin.
And, like Gregg said, there are exceptions we make for the diet. We aren’t purists. We just are following God’s guidelines understanding that the reason they are in place are for our own health and safety. And when we follow them, we’re acknowledging the Author of the law in a grateful and worshipful way. Because He is the mighty Creator of the heavens and the earth and is worthy of all acknowledgment, worship, and praise.
Do you vaccinate your kids since many vaccines use pigs as the medium? What is terrible is I am contemplating eating pork chops tonight, and making pulled pork tomorrow. Was going to be a good fast meal since we have all the ingredients… And this is making me not want it…. (sigh…)
Thank you so much for sharing, I need to look into this more. I don’t vaccinate as I don’t believe in it, but was concerned when you don’t eat pork, I would expect you would want to avoid it being injected into you also… And so many don’t realize the ingredients in vaccines… :o( Again, thank you!!! :o) I have found a wonderful website, I look forward to reading a lot here. :o)
Wow very interesting. I may have to try and forget this post as we eat pork chops tonight! I don’t know that I agree that as Christians we should follow Levitical food law but I do think any sacrifice we make for God is blessed. (and I doubt I ever buy chops from the store again!)
Thank you for your post!
What a fabulous conversation! I haven’t eaten pork since I was twelve and became a vegetarian. Even after eating meat again a few years ago I stayed away from pork and shellfish. I don’t think, as Christians, we are bound by the dietary laws as far as being a sin issue is concerned, but I do think the laws are there for practical reasons. I think pigs (and shellfish) are scavengers and are here to clean up our environment since they do eat everything. I’m not convinced they are clean enough to eat. Of course I wouldn’t pass judgement on anyone eating it. Like I said, I don’t think it’s a sin issue anymore, but I do think God’s old testament law is applicable for us today. I’ve very recently read that if you have digestive problems you shouldn’t eat meat and dairy combined because it is notoriously difficult to digest. That’s one of the laws, as well. I find it fascinating when I find out science continues to prove God’s word.
Dang, I wish I had by-passed this RFW post! Yuck, yuck, and double yuck. I knew pigs were gross animals, but I didn’t realize just how gross they actually are. They eat their own cancerous growths?? Geeroos!
This post was disgusting on so many levels and makes me re-think my decision to feed my children pork (though I don’t eat it). I haven’t eaten pork in about 20 years, but my kids eat it regularly. I made the decision to include it in their diets because they needed the extra fat and I didn’t want to create a life-long aversion to something simply because I have one.
Seriously gross…and fascinating.
Sara
WOW This was very informative as well as very gross. I believe my husband and I willbe reviewing this information later and making some decisions. We only eat pork once or twice a month so really not giving up much. Thanks for the information!
Tried to eat a ham sandwich tonight and couldn’t Thanks Hallee! Can you do the same thing for carbs please?!
Aside from the spiritual arguments, what is your source for the information you post about pigs, their metabolism and their diet? I do my best to avoid all factory farmed meat. Can you cite scientific data that show that pastured pork is inherently unhealthy compared to pastured beef?
Sources are readily available. The link to the USDA fact sheet is in the post itself. Other sources include but are not limited to the late Dr. Rex Russell, MD, Dr. Jordan Rubin, MD, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Again, all we are doing is telling you why WE choose to follow a Levitical diet. We are NOT trying to tell anyone else not to eat pork. Eat it if you want and enjoy.
Nor are we judging ANYONE for choosing not to follow a Levitical diet. Go right ahead, and we have nothing negative to say about it at all.
Lastly, if you feel you must judge us in some way for our choice of diet, feel free to do that as well. I find it kind of odd, frankly, since it does not affect anyone else in any conceivable way, but do so if you must.
God Bless,
Gregg
I apologize if my post sounded judgemental. I had never read anything about the porcine metabolism and the processing of toxins, etc… I was curious where that information came from.
Halee, I found your site through Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s reference to this article and since I am a Torah-observant believer in Yeshua the Messiah, I found your article very interesting and refreshing in this age of self-gratification.
Regarding this comment: “Some Christians say that after a vision by Peter, God cleansed all animals and made them fit and lawful for human consumption. ” I have never understood why some say that God was cleansing unclean animals here, when it very clearly says in Acts 10:28 following the sheet-like object full of unclean animals event, when Peter is explaining his vision to Cornelius and all the others: “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any MAN (emphasis mine) unholy or unclean.” Cornelius was a gentile, yet Peter was being instructed to preach the gospel to Cornelius and ultimately to all gentiles. God is NOT calling unclean animals clean, nor will He ever do so. God does not change, but is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He would not one day tell us that unclean animals are not to be eaten, then another day say they can now be our food! He didn’t make a mistake!
Great post and we too avoid pork (we do have bacon and sausage occasionally) b/c of it’s lack of cleanliness as a meat. But I do agree with Kelly that if it’s from a known source than it is probably better but still not good. I imagine that in biblical times, the feed that pigs were given may have been cleaner and God did not specify that it was ok IF the pigs ate cleanly. We choose also to follow most of God’s given Levitical dietary laws NOT b/c we are ‘Under the Law” – we aren’t. We do so b/c as THE CREATOR, God knows His creation best and knows what is good for us and what is not.
All that being said, I must correct the bit about the Pepsi/Pork experiment. That is an Urban Legend and is explained at www dot snopes dot com Just search on Pepsi and pork and the article will come up. You may want to update your post as some people may throw out all of your well written defense based on the one area of mistaken information.
God Bless, Jennifer
God knows His creation best and knows what is good for us and what is not.
I LOVE the simplicity of that comment. Beautifully put. Thank you.
Ok, I am extremely grossed out! But in a good way. I love the internet because it helps us find info so much easier and I’m all about being informed. So, thanks Hallee for that very enlightening info. I’ve always known pigs were well pigs but I didn’t know all that about them. We love anything pig, bacon, pork chops, ham but I purchase it from my local farmer who pastures them and grows his own organic feed (soy free). I suppose they could get into something disgusting while rooting around but I feel I am providing my family with a “cleaner” option.
While I don’t believe we are bound by those particular eating requirements anymore I do agree with my pastor who says, “When God says no, what He is really saying is ‘Don’t hurt yourself’.” He doesn’t say no to us to be mean, He loves us and knows what’s best so with that in mind ya have to wonder what His initial reasons were in keeping us away from certain foods. I believe He allowed these unclean foods more out of His love for the gentiles. He didn’t want anything to stand in the way of them being able to hear and accept the gospel message. I don’t think He changed the fact that a pig is still a pig and therefore unclean, prone to harboring and cultivating diseases regardless of how we might try to change their eating habits and environment. So, will I continue to enjoy my “cleaner” pig? Absolutely! (Although I might have to wait til those visions of what I’ve read subside.) Will I maybe limit my consumption of pig in the future? Absolutely!
I’d have to say that I’m with Kelly on this one. If you know your farmer, and know you’re not eating containment pigs, you can have pork that is clean. As for religious reasons for avoiding certain meats, if that works for you, great. But I won’t be giving up my bacon. Thank you for providing more information, and for your respect for choices made by others.
Hallee, I posted this on Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s site and thought I’d add it here since this is where the conversation started.
We bought a pastured pig last year and will buy another one this year. I’m from the Midwest and have seen plenty of pig farming so when I visited the farm (a Joel Salatin-style farm in Oregon) and saw the pigs, I actually teared up. I had never seen happier hogs. They live their entire lives outdoors with a wooded area full of oak trees where they hunt for acorns. The farmer feeds his pigs fresh whey. And he uses heritage breed hogs which are heartier, healthier, and have the right portion of fat to muscle. Our pork was the best meat we’ve ever had. I don’t worry about the horror stories of unclean pork with these animals. There are farmers in the US raising animals with intelligence, love, and compassion and that makes all the difference. I think hogs are like the canary in the coal mine in that they are very sensitive and when not raised right, they easily become diseased and toxic. However, when raised with care, they produce the most divine food.
As a side note, chickens will also eat unclean, diseased, rotting flesh; rodents; each other; and just about any scrap you give them. We humans have to take responsibility for our charges, giving them ample living space, sun, and appropriate food options. That’s our job.
Very interesting post. As a proud follower of Dr Weston A Price, I try to eat traditional foods whenever possible. Some of the healthy peoples studied by Dr. Price, such as the Maori, did eat pork as part of their traditional diet. the Georgians of the Caucasus, one of the healthiest and longest lived peoples on earth, eat as much fatty pork as they can get.
While pigs certainly will eat anything , their preferred food in their natural habitat is mast, the fallen nuts of trees like oak and beech. Various cultures have tried to strictly control the diet of pigs, going back to the Romans and Greeks. I will almost always brine any pork I cook, which is a very traditional practice. It not only helps with flavor and tenderness, but the salt should kill a lot of the bacteria. I also cook to a high enough temperature that the bacteria should be killed, at least according to the government.
That said, I actually do not eat that much pork, because it so hard to find pork that has not been raised on soy.
Ohhhhhh disgusting. I haven’t had pork in a long, long time. I was a strict vegetarian for years and when I went back to eating chicken and turkey, I still didn’t eat beef or pork. I hate it. But, I will admit that I have been eating pepperoni pizza lately because it’s easier sometimes, and now I’m just so sick that I’ve eaten it lately (it’s been very recently that I’ve just started eating pepperoni again). Thank you for this info, I had no idea!
[...] A lovely explanation by a blogger friend of mine [...]
I found this statement from one of the sites you link above interesting:
“God gave Israel the dietary laws to make them holy. Remember, the word holy does not refer to a moral/ethical quality. It means to be set apart. Israel is supposed to demonstrate to the world that it is a nation set apart for the LORD. One of the ways that the people of Israel are to do that is by maintaining a distinctive diet that, on some levels, keeps them separate from others. The distinctive requirements of the kosher diet have forced the Jewish people to cluster together in communities while limiting their potential interactions with other communities.”
found here: https://ffoz.org/resources/edrash/shemini/clean_and_unclean_animals.php
Thanks for this post!
Hallee,
I really enjoyed reading your blog! It’s informative and well constructed. I wanted to share a scripture that you may want to sink your teeth into (no pun intended): Psalm 68:4-
“Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH, And rejoice before Him.”
Thanks!
Li
[...] A lovely explanation by a blogger friend of mine [...]
Thank you and AMEN! I have been researching, reading and pondering all of these things. Glad to find someone put it all in one place.
I will be linking and sending people to this page (and your others) as I continue in sharing what I have been findings.
Blessings.
Some of what is written here does not seem right to me.
For instance the part about the pigs’ feet: I don’t belief there’s some kind of sewer line to the foot. I think pigs get infections in their feet from being raised in poor conditions and with unnatural flooring.
The part about the uric acid makes no sense to me either. I’d want to see some good sources on this.
[...] If you want to read a GREAT post on Why not to eat Pork read Hallee Homemaker’s Give a Pig a Pancake post! And watch the parasite Pepsi Challenge video she has [...]
Hallee,
This post is simply brilliant and thank you so much for posting it!!! I am a born and raised Seventh Day Adventist. We also follow the Biblical diet of not eating unclean meats. I was raised this way, vegetarian until I was a teenager and then strayed away for a long time. I have to confess, I love bacon too. It’s the only weakness I have in the pork department, all the others I don’t like, but I do LOVE it. I had to force myself to eat turkey bacon again and like it.
I also love crab, and lobster. But, I’ve made myself love the fake stuff.
In my lifetime I have experienced numerous times, people make fun of me, question me and even get mad at me for not eating pork. My own family has put me down for it. It’s such a personal decision and it never made sense to me that other people cared but I’ve learned that people don’t like what they don’t understand or what is different.
I am very impressed by your honesty when you start out by saying that you love to smoke, love to eat pork, etc. It’s such a hard thing to admit when you are a Christian because everyone expects us to be perfect. We are human beings too, and God understands our addictions and is always there to help when we ask Him. For me, its especially hard being an Adventist because we focus so much on health and diet, to admit my habits because of the shame that comes along with them. If everyone was as honest as you, I think being a Christian would be a much easier journey. But, alas, nothing that is right, is easy.
Thank you again for your post!!
Have you tried beef bacon? I have learned to love it WAY more than pork bacon, and it doesn’t feel like a “substitute” like turkey bacon does.
I used to eat this stuff called Sizaleen (sp?) and it was beef and turkey mixed but I haven’t been able to find it anywhere.
[...] A lovely explanation by a blogger friend of mine [...]
I also agree with Kelly. While I completely respect your right to eat this way, I would have enjoyed seeing citations to back up your statements. The USDA page says:
*The “Passed and Inspected by USDA” seal insures the pork is wholesome and free from disease.
*What foodborne organisms are associated with pork?
Pork must be adequately cooked to eliminate disease-causing parasites and bacteria that may be present. Humans may contract trichinosis (caused by the parasite, Trichinella spiralis) by eating undercooked pork. Much progress has been made in reducing trichinosis in grain-fed hogs and human cases have greatly declined since 1950. Today’s pork can be enjoyed when cooked to an internal temperature of 145 °F as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures.
Some other foodborne micro-organisms that can be found in pork, as well as other meats and poultry, are Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. They are all destroyed by proper handling and thorough cooking.
I would really like to read the reasoning behind your statements because I am currently trying to decide whether to eat pork.
God Bless.
You say, “I would really like to read the reasoning behind your statements because I am currently trying to decide whether to eat pork.”
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Honestly, whether or not you decide to smoke, eat trans fatty acids, consume mono-sodium glutimate, or eat pork is entirely, and I mean entirely, your decision.
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Our decision is not to eat pork or engage in other practices that are generally considered unhealthy or health risks.
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God Bless,
Gregg
Thank you, Gregg. I am aware that the choice to eat or not eat pork is mine. Implying that it’s as bad as smoking seems grossly exaggerated to me…that’s why I wanted to see more your resources. You skipped to the end of my comment. This is fine, though. To each his own.
I didn’t skip to the end of your comment. Is it worth pointing out that while, as you cited, trichinosis cases have “greatly declined since 1950,” that there is a way to 100% guarantee that you won’t come down with this parasite via the pork vector? That is, by not consuming pork.
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We have stated our reasons and made our case for why we choose not to eat pork. Further research would not only seem redundant but superfluous. Whether or not you choose to — or not — remains your choice whether we perform more research is not really relevant since we have already made our choice.
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God Bless,
Gregg
I’ve loved your blog for ages, but I seem to have missed a few chapters … like this one. And it’s so funny, because God has been leading me to change our family’s lifestyle and now I’m seeing things (like this!) EVERYWHERE. I’ll miss my bacon … a LOT … but I know what God is going to do will be exciting for us all!
Beef bacon is a wonderful substitute. Gwaltney makes the only brand we’ve been able to find. Hopefully, you can get it wherever you are.
God bless you on this new journey!
Thanks sooooooo much for your site! I’ve been wrestling with the decision to cut pork from my family’s diet for some time now. You have ended any doubts that remained. I couldn’t eat pork now if I tried….gag…such disgusting creatures! No wonder Jesus never had anything good to say about them. Thanks for presenting the facts and arming your readers with the ammunition to make their own decision. Now…I’m off to my fridge to trash some bacon bits!! God bless you & your family.