Nostalgic Christmas pork made healthy... in a pandemic

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December 11, 2020

Growing up, I would go to my Grandma’s house for Christmas. It was basically the same menu every year. I remember the sound and feeling of cracking walnuts at the table, the spice of her mashed turnips on my tongue, and the smell of the brown sugar glazed spiraled ham baking in the oven.

Oh that spiraled Christmas ham!

You probably know what I’m talking about. It’s cut like a slinky on a bone. It’s pricked with cloves and doused in a sweet orange brown sugar sauce. I have to admit I’m a bit of a sweet tooth and would look forward to that ham every year.

But... as I got older and became more aware of the healing powers of food, I began to think twice about that ham.

It was a conventional ham, and you know what that means. The pig was vaccinated and given hormones and routine antibiotics. It lived in confined pens with no access to the outdoors. It was fed GMO corn and soy. It was injected with tenderizing and stabilizing and flavoring who-knows-what when processed. And that’s not even getting into the glaze!

I am so lucky to have access to Miller’s Bio Farm, where pigs are raised naturally, with the health of the pigs and customers in mind.

Miller’s pigs live in the woods, where they naturally would so their delicate skin is protected from the harsh sun. They root for grubs and eat thousands of acorns each year. They are fed lots of skim milk and their regular soy-free and organic feed, which is mostly oats but also contains non-GMO corn, fish and crab meal, pea meal, and organic minerals.

Miller’s pigs aren’t given anything synthetic - no vaccines, no hormones, no antibiotics, no GMOs, etc. And, they aren’t exposed to anything unnatural when processed - no fillers, no dyes, no artificial preservatives, no tenderizers, etc. Whew!

Now here’s the next problem - the pandemic! This means smaller gatherings and maybe even cooking Christmas dinner yourself.

This is what’s happening with me. Instead of my Grandma hosting, now I’m in charge of cooking Christmas dinner for my family. Gotta figure out that ham!

Miller’s doesn’t offer a huge spiraled ham, and that’s ok. There are still lots of options for hams and other pork products. Maybe I’ll make a big smoked ham slice and have leftovers. Or maybe I’ll think smaller and go with a ham steak or pork chops.

Luckily, farmer Aaron is having a Christmas sale - 10% OFF ALL PORK PRODUCTS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! And, you can save even more buy buying in bulk!

So, maybe I’ll get a few options and decide later. There’s just so many yummy farm recipes:

Are you cooking for the holidays? What are you making? I’d love to know!

Shop All Pastured Pork SALE

Opinion

Pastured Meat

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

Nostalgic Christmas pork made healthy... in a pandemic

Shop All Pastured Pork SALE

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566