Why pigs are happy and healthy in the woods

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September 28, 2017

The pigs are so big! When I visited the farm in March, they were just babies, squirming around and squealing in hay in the barn. Now, they are nearly 400 pounds and living in the woods. It has been so amazing having a deep connection to the food that I prepare for my family. By reading these newsletters, I hope that you feel a bit more connected to your food, too.

Five pigs live on the farm. In the spring, once it was warm enough, the farmer moved them into the woods across the street and up the hill from the barn. They are free to roam on about 1⁄2 acre of wooded land, and they have certainly made it their own.

Pigs love the woods. After all, it’s their natural habitat. The forest has a nice canopy that provides shade for their nearly hairless bodies. They love to use their strong snouts to root up the earth. What used to be a nice ground cover of ferns and bushes in the forest has been turned to lumpy dirt and mud by the pigs. They love foraging for food and have consumed countless acorns and bugs (in addition to lots of skim milk and their regular feed, which is mostly oats but also contains corn, fish and crab meal, pea meal, and organic minerals).

Come mid-October, the pigs will be ready for processing (we have 8 new small pigs that will be ready in March/April). When they go to the butcher, we lose about 30% in dress weight (after the blood and organs are removed). Then, we lose another 20% when cut. So, in the end, a 400 lb pig will give us 224 lb of meat. Luckily, our farm sells ground pork with organs to recoup some of what would be lost in normal pork processing. The farmer is also talking with our butcher about selling pork rinds and pork heads to minimize waste as much as possible.

When I think of pork, I first think bacon. Enough said. The second thing I think about is sausage and raw lacto-fermented sauerkraut. And what a lovely time of year for that, a perfect main dish to be eaten around Oktoberfest. According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, eating pork with fermented foods or pork prepared with vinegar has no negative effects on your blood or temperament.

When Pigs Fly

Pastured Meat

Farm Updates

Farming Practices

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 😊

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Let’s take a look at what rennet is and why it’s used in cheesemaking, compare the different types of animal and vegetable rennets, check out the labeling requirements for rennet, and consider the potential health consequences. Keeping all this in mind, Miller’s Bio Farm aims to produce the most nutrient-dense, natural, A2/A2 cheese we can and gives you all the info you need to make the choice that’s best for your body!

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

It used to be true that, if your egg yolks were darker in color, then the better the egg's nutrition. Conscious consumers of the past would look for that deep orange yolk and stray away from lighter yellow yolks. It's sad, but this simply isn't the case anymore. Here's why you can't trust cheap store-bought eggs with orange yolks and need to know your farmer instead.

Why pigs are happy and healthy in the woods

More from the blog

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

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

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