Me, A Vegetarian, Excited About a Hog Farmer?

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You heard it from the vegetarian: bring on the hog farming.

Russ Kremer, also known as the Pope of Pork, is holding his own as a smalltime Missouri hog farmer. Unlike the huge industrial meat operations that have put a lot of small farmers out of business, Kremer treats his animals ethically and with respect, makes sure they have plenty of space to be healthy and active and feeds them a natural hog diet – drug and antibiotic-free. Kremer really is a pope of sorts – the former successful factory farmer is so deeply invested in his purpose, he hasn’t had time to get married or raise children.

Kremer and other pork farmers in his region formed a cooperative and began distributing their natural meat  – processed the old-fashioned way, without chemicals – under the label Heritage Acres.

This is great news for conscious meat eaters everywhere, and for vegetarians like me. Although I don’t eat meat, it’s great to see that those who choose to eat meat are looking for compassionate, sustainable options. The story is really worth reading, because “formed” is an awfully small word to accurately convey the difficulties these determined farmers had to deal with in order to raise meat in a fashion that used to be the norm.

Image: jontidmarsh