Traditional people used special preparations to prepare pork. Pork was cured, fermented or marinaded and in some cultures it was served with ferments (such as the traditional bratwurst and sauerkraut). We recommend following these traditional preparation techniques.
“Dear WAPF,” began the hand-written note, “We are cancelling our membership because of the Foundation’s stand against eating pork. Your prejudice against pork hurts hard-working farmers.”
This letter has languished in my files for several years as I considered how to answer what I call the “pork dilemma.” On the one hand, several practitioners of live blood cell analysis have told me that eating pork causes undesirable changes in the blood; on the other hand, pork was consumed by healthy Polynesian and Melanesian groups which Dr. Price visited and described; and pork is a major food in the diets of long-lived peoples such as the Okinawans and Caucasian Georgians. Equally important is the fact that raising pork fits so well into the model of an integrated farm. If the farmer is making cheese (from grass-fed cows, of course), he can give the whey, considered a waste product, to the pigs and chickens. Many farmers have told me that it is the pigs, more than any other product, that brings prosperity to the farm, even if they are raised on purchased grain.
A clue to the dilemma came from a Chinese member of WAPF. “In China,” he told me, “we prepare pork in a special way, otherwise we think it is unhealthy.” The preparation technique involves cutting pork into small pieces and marinating it in vinegar before cooking it in pork fat. “When we prepare pork this way,” he said, “we know that it is good for us.” Pork and pork fat together form the number one source of calories in the traditional Chinese diet.
Pork is traditionally marinated in vinegar in the Philippines and in Argentina; in Europe it is fermented or cured; even America has her tradition of pickled pigs’ feet and vinegar-marinated barbecue.
At last we have been able to bring some finality to the question with the live blood analyses of Beverly Rubik (see article page 24). Her study indicates that plain pork meat indeed causes undesirable changes in the blood, accompanied by fatigue, but pork that has been marinated, fermented or cured does not. This is indeed good news for farmers and bacon lovers!
Here is a collection of pork recipes from around the world that WAPF members can eat with confidence.
Articles on The Weston A. Price Foundation website:
- Properly Prepared Pork – Including Recipes
- How Does Pork Prepared in Various Ways Affect the Blood
- How Does Pork Sausage Affect the Blood?
- Save Your Bacon
- Blood Orange Asian Pork Chops – Recipe
- Pork Liver Terrine – Recipe
- Miso Braised Pork – Recipe
- Slow-Cooked Sauerkraut Pork Shoulder – Recipe
Elsewhere on the web:
- The Definitive Guide To Pork – Food Renegade
