Environment · Nutrition · Pig ·

Why we need regenerative pork

Why we need regenerative pork

Can pork be regenerative?

When we think of regenerative farming systems, the focus is all too often on the grazing animals and their ability to restore soil health. But as a business we want all of our supply partners to be operating in ways that benefit the environment. We believe that all farmed animals can, if kept properly, have two functions. The first being obvious in that they provide us with nutrition, but the second should be an actual benefit to the environment or landscape.

Our history with pigs

Pigs are some of the oldest domesticated animals. As we started to settle from nomadic life, pigs offered us a way of upcycling kitchen and agricultural waste products into very valuable fats and proteins.

Starting about 10,000 years ago, humans spread across the globe and pigs followed, playing a key part in the development of society. As well as cows and sheep, domestic pigs have allowed us to change from nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled farming communities.

The modern, domesticated pig can recreate the effect the Wild Boar once had on our native forests. They can improve the biodiversity of woodland, especially where a few species of plant or tree have come to dominate, and they can help eradicate invasive species, the other modern options for this type of management involve herbicides, chemicals, and or fossil fuel-powered machines.

When pigs are given access to woodland they will clear the ground layer, removing plants such as nettles, brambles, bracken, willow and couch grass. They will eat all tree saplings which are small enough, reducing the number of non-native or unwanted tree species. They can also be used to clear fallen seeds such as acorns which can be toxic to horses and cattle. 

Our pork supplier

Some forward-thinking farmers, such as our supplier Rose Ball of Fowlescombe Farm in Devon, have realised the benefit pigs bring to ancient, unmanaged, mixed woodland.

On Fowlescombe Farm pigs are used to reduce the density of the woodland ground layer, whilst also causing soil disturbance, which promotes natural regeneration by creating seedbeds. The natural foraging behaviour of the pigs results in them burying some tree seeds amongst the many that they eat, these buried seeds have increased chances of survival and germination compared to those left on the surface.

Pigs as conservation tools

Elsewhere they are used for bracken management as they happily eat bracken and the rhizomes without being poisoned by the various toxins and carcinogens. 

Rhododendron ponticum was first brought to Britain, probably from Spain or Portugal, around 1763 for botanical gardens and used on big estates as cover for game birds. But the shrub has spread out of control with huge damage to many native woodlands, heaths and other wild places like the Snowdonia national park.

Pigs are a very useful conservation tool in the management of Rhododendron. They can support Rhododendron management, by improving access to the woodland floor for silvicultural operations to commence. They can also be used after Rhododendron removal, to break up the leaf litter allowing light to the woodland floor and natural regeneration to occur, as well as suppressing any new growth of Rhododendron. While the pigs won’t eradicate Rhododendron themselves, they are an excellent alternative to herbicides and mechanical operations, and can be an integral part of a Rhododendron management plan.

On mixed farms, the practice of incorporating livestock into arable rotation gives the land a worthwhile break in production – recuperation from continual crop growing, which is known to deplete nutrients and compromise soil health.

When pigs are part of the mix, arable producers have an opportunity to improve soil structure, reduce weed burden and disease carry over, increase retention of valuable nutrients and boost biodiversity – factors that can benefit subsequent crop yields and production economics.

In recent years, landowners have sought to improve the environmental sustainability of crop production. Having pigs as tenants not only offers stable rental revenue, it might also help futureproof arable businesses and enable them to fit in with Defra’s more harmonious and holistic agricultural policy, the meeting heard. It should also open up opportunities for pig businesses by increasing land availability.

So pigs are incredibly useful to us when kept properly and in natural systems, historically they would have fulfilled many roles on a small farm or homestead: clearing undergrowth, upcycling food and agricultural wastes such as spent grains from brewing, whey from cheese making, vegetable peelings, spoiled fruits and veg and even table scraps from the kitchen. These waste products would, over the course of the year, be upcycled into highly valued protein and of course lard and fats used in cooking.

Lard as a superfood

Thanks to the seed oil industry we have lost our taste and tradition for consuming lard which is rendered pork fat but to our grandparents this was cooking fat. There is a newfound interest however as people discover these traditional fats and the health benefits they offer us over modern oils.

So what makes lard so good for us?

Vitamin D

Lard is one of the best sources of vitamin D,and many people are deficient, this is especially true  in the winter when we are exposed to less sunlight. Low vitamin D can impact mood and immune system function. Vitamin D plays a role in the regulation of calcium and phosphorus metabolism and is an essential nutrient for bone health. Adequate levels of vitamin D in the body are also associated with a lowered risk of developing cancer, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease, and infectious diseases. Almost every cell in the body has a receptor for vitamin D, underlining how vital it is. It plays a role in growth, nervous system function, reproductive health, insulin production, and immune function.

Is Lard like olive oil, high in monounsaturates?

After olive oil, which consists of 77% monounsaturated fatty acids, lard has the most monounsaturated fats at 48%. These fats help to lower blood cholesterol levels and maintain healthy cells.

The primary monounsaturated fat in lard – oleic acid – is linked to a decreased risk of depression. A 2005 study conducted in Thailand also found that oleic acid may aid in cancer prevention. The study found that oleic acid blocks a cancer-causing oncogene in about one-third of breast cancer patients.

Choline content

Choline is another important nutrient that’s not found in high quantities in many other foods. About 90% of us don’t get enough in our diet. Low levels are connected with everything from a greater risk of heart disease and Alzheimer’s to problems with the liver. Choline helps to move cholesterol and very-low-density lipoproteins from the liver, a deficiency can lead to a buildup of fat and cholesterol.

Lard is a great source of choline, with anywhere from 102 mg per cup to 399 mg, depending on how the pig the lard is from was raised. Lard from organic, pasture-raised pigs will likely contain significantly more choline than that from conventionally raised pigs.

Cooking qualities

Lard has a very high smoke point of 190c meaning it won’t oxidise as easily as many veg based oils, and it tastes great!

 

It’s time to rethink what we consider to be a superfood.

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Citations below - Taken from 

https://healinggourmet.com/lard-health-food-will-shock/

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