Pig Tales

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Barry Estabrook, author of the New York Times bestseller Tomatoland and a writer of great skill and compassion Eric Schlosser , now explores the dark side of the American pork industry Drawing on his personal experiences raising pigs as well as his sharp investigative instincts, Estabrook covers the range of the human porcine experience He embarks on nocturnal feral pig hunts in Texas He visits farmers who raise animals in vast confinement barns for Smithfield and Tyson, two of the country s biggest pork producers And he describes the threat of infectious disease and the possible contamination of our food supply Through these stories shines Estabrook s abiding love for these remarkable creatures Pigs are social, self aware, and playful, not to mention smart enough to master the typical house dog commands of sit, stay, come twice as fast as your average pooch With the cognitive abilities of at least three year olds, they can even learn to operate a modified computer Unfortunately for the pigs, they re also delicious to eat.Estabrook shows how these creatures are all too often subjected to lives of suffering in confinement and squalor, sustained on a drug laced diet just long enough to reach slaughter weight, then killed on mechanized disassembly lines But it doesn t have to be this way Pig Tales presents a lively portrait of those farmers who are taking an alternative approach, like one Danish producer that has a far eco friendly and humane system of pork production, and new, small family farms with free range heritage pigs raised on antibiotic free diets It is possible to raise pigs responsibly and respectfully in a way that is good for producers, consumers, and some of the top chefs in America.Provocative, witty, and deeply informed, Pig Tales is bound to spark conversation at dinner tables across America. Best Read [ Pig Tales ] Author [ Barry Estabrook ] – kino-fada.fr Immigrants with shit filled diapers, piglets operating computers and crazy Danish people seeking to do things right Barry Estabrook s journalistic endeavor to educate the average american bacon fetishist and artisan of such unparalleled jokes as I love pigs.THEY RE DELICIOUS hee hoo hug is a comprehensive overview of all you need to know about pigs To begin with Pigs are intelligent very intelligent in fact Previously unbeknownst to me, pigs are emotional beings with individual perso Immigrants with shit filled diapers, piglets operating computers and crazy Danish people seeking to do things right Barry Estabrook s journalistic endeavor to educate the average american bacon fetishist and artisan of such unparalleled jokes as I love pigs.THEY RE DELICIOUS hee hoo hug is a comprehensive overview of all you need to know about pigs To begin with Pigs are intelligent very intelligent in fact Previously unbeknownst to me, pigs are emotional beings with individual personalities, who are capable of remembering individuals for long periods of time, recognizing themselves in mirrors and as previously stated, operate computers an ability that many parents lack But I m not here to preach the Pig Gospel or be one of those annoying people who says I hate humans, humans are awful blah blah fart and neither is Estabrook Instead the two of us are here to present the facts that are at times s...I was a little leery going in that this book would be either all pro pork meat or anti pork meat It really isn t either The subject matter accepts the fact that eating pork isn t going away, but the book dives in to the question of how we, in the United States, process that pork from piglet to slaughter Barry Estabrook travels from California to Iowa to North Carolina to Denmark to research how pigs are raised for consumption He dives into the treatment of raising pigs from small independent I was a little leery going in that this book would be either all pro pork meat or anti pork meat It really isn t either The subject matter accepts the fact that eating pork isn t going away, but the book dives in to the question of how we, in the United States, process that pork from piglet to slaughter Barry Estabrook travels from California to Iowa to North Carolina to Denmark to research how pigs are raised for con...This is a well written book and, unlike Ted Genoways The Chain, this book examines pigs as the amazing and smart creatures they are while still, like The Chain, looking at the ugly side of modern mass industrial hog producing raising and hog slaughtering Estabrook also looks at people humanely raising pigs as a source of meat and also delves into problems with feral pigs For me personally, this book felt like too much of a stretch to make omnivores feel better about their decision to eat fel This is a well written book and, unlike Ted Genoways The Chain, this book examines pigs as the amazing and smart creatures they are while still, like The Chain, looking at the ugly side of modern mass industrial hog producing raising and hog slaughtering Estabrook also looks at people humanely raising pigs as a source of meat and also delves into problems with feral pigs For me personally, this book felt ...This book was fascinating, informative, and gave straight facts so you didn t feel like you were reading propaganda It was also very well written Never once did I get bored or feel weighed down with facts or information all of it was told with humor and compassion I ll say ...Amazing Page TurnerWell written, well researched, well told This book has opened my eyes and touched my soul I am grateful for Barry Estabrook s efforts to get this information to the public I bought the book after heari...The first emotion most have when presented with a book on animal agriculture practices or meat processing is guilt In Pig Tales Barry Estabrook challenges the popular notion that any look at the meat industry is a vegan biased horror show Estabrook presents interviews, eye witness accounts, and legal proceedings in a way that allows the reader to see that while not all meat practices should be halted, the public ismanipulated by big pig than we realize The most salient aspect for me w The first emotion most have when presented with a book on animal agriculture practices or meat processing is guilt In Pig Tales Barry Estabrook challenges the popular notion that any look at the meat industry is a vegan biased horror show Estabrook presents interviews, eye witness accounts, and legal proceedings in a way that allows the reader to see that while not all meat practices should be halted, the public ismanipulated by big pig than we realize The most salient aspect for me was the focus on the welfare of hum...Pig Tales is divided into three parts Part 1 covers pig intelligence about the same as a 3 year old human , pig lifestyles lots of rooting , and the worldwide problem of feral pigs they re everywere and very destructive Part 2 covers the problem of industrial agra biz Part 3 provides a glimpse into economically viable, sustainable ways of raising and slaughtering pigs Think Chipotle and Niman Ranch.Part 2 neatly dovetails into one of my previous reads, The World of the Salt Marsh Both a Pig Tales is divided into three parts Part 1 covers pig intelligence about the same as a 3 year old human , pig lifestyles lots of rooting , and the worldwide problem of feral pigs they re everywere and ve...A very informative, borderline info dumping, tale about sustainable pig farming At times highly repetitive, Eastabrook is able to keep the reader s attention even though not much is to be gained.This book has changed where I purchase meat Knowing what I know now, it s worth the extra money to eat meat free of hormones and pasture raised And if I m honest, I already knew that corporate owned hogs had a tough life, but now that...Fortunately, I avoid meat in general Knowing that China bought out one of the largest pork producers in the U.S Smithfields would worry me if I ate pork However, the chapters on sustainable pork producers although their meat is somewhatexpensive is a return to what farms were like just 20 or 30 years ago I would hate to live near a giant pork farm in North Carolina or Iowa Just set the sprinklers on and let the pig shit fly all over the fiel...

Pig Tales
  • English
  • 23 May 2018
  • Paperback
  • 336 pages
  • 0393352935
  • Barry Estabrook
  • Pig Tales