From David E. Gumpert, on the Complete Patient blog:
“Michigan pig farmer Mark Baker has been under a virtual embargo the last several months because of his state’s prohibition on raising so-called “feral” pigs–essentially any pigs that Big Ag doesn’t want to see produced. The high-end restaurants he formerly supplied with heritage pork don’t want to do business with him for fear local public health authorities will come down on them. The local USDA slaughterhouse won’t handle his pigs because its owners fears regulator reprisals.
So Baker has begun exploiting the only option he could think of: taking his knowledge about pig butchering and meat curing on the road. His first stop was this weekend at a home in Concord, MA, nearly within sight of the Old North Bridge, where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired in 1775.
There, in the garage of Farmageddon documentary producer Kristin Canty, Baker laid out a recently slaughtered pig, and over two days during the weekend instructed 16 area residents how to turn it into pork chops, roasts, ham shanks, and bacon, among other items. They paid $100 each for the new skills he instructed them in.
He also provided insights into his struggle against Big Ag and for the right to sell his heritage pigs, free of government prohibitions. At a dinner Saturday evening, following a day of butchering instruction, Baker spoke to the attendees about his struggles with the state of Michigan. “This is not about pigs, it’s about freedom,” he said….”
Way to go Mark. You are an inspiration. Thank You!!