You see, there are some animals (like cows and sheep) that can live exclusively on grass. Pigs and turkeys are a little different. They love grazing pasture and absorb lots of nutrition from pasture and the soil. But because they don’t have multi-chambered stomachs like ruminants, their diet needs to be supplemented with something else. It turns out, that “something else” can differ from farm-to farm.
Once, we met a farmer who picks up stale loaves of bread from the bakeries around town to feed his pigs. Another farmer we met feeds them gallon tubs of cookies crumbles – the sweet crunchy stuff that the ice cream shop puts on your sundaes. Food scraps (i.e. garbage) are pretty common food for pigs, too. If this all sounds strange and rather disgusting to you, you’re not alone…
More commonly, farmers give pigs “conventional” grains to eat (grown using synthetic inputs like chemical fertilizers and pesticides) while some farmers opt for “non-GMO” grain (which is a little better than conventional grain in that the seed itself hasn’t been genetically modified, but there’s no guarantee it hasn’t been grown using chemical fertilizers or sprayed with herbicide during harvest).
As you know by now, we’re strong believers in organic practices being best not just for our bodies and the animals, but for the environment. So, in addition to all the nutrition the pigs get from their weekly rotations around our pastures, we give them a ration of certified organic grains every day. No cookie crumbles or old bread loaves or pesticide-covered grain around here…
This past year, we’ve purchased 50 tons of certified organic grain from our most important farm partner, Lakeview Organic Grain. It’s not cheap. In fact, it’s a huge investment…the biggest one we make every month. But when you know that the old saying “we are what we eat” is true, there’s absolutely no way we’re going to cut any corners here.
Your Farmers,
Jenney nd Greg