We all know on some level that what we eat directly impacts our health and the way we feel. But there is more to it than that. It’s not just what we eat, it’s how what we eat was produced that can impact us so profoundly. Apples are not just apples. There is a world of difference between apples farmed in biologically active soils and diverse systems than apples that have been grown in systems reliant on synthetic inputs. The flavour and the nutritional integrity of apples is determined by how they are grown.
Bacon is a perfect example of what is wrong with our food system. If you are buying cheap bacon from the supermarket you are probably buying bacon that has been imported and even if it is Australian you are definitely NOT buying bacon from animals that are free range. So, this means you will be eating meat from animals that have spent their entire lives inside. Pigs that have never had sunshine on their backs, rooted around in the soil or wallowed in mud – which is what pigs love to do. The factory farming of pigs results in cheap meat but is it good meat? How can it nourish you and your family when the animal it came from was never nourished in the full sense of the word – never getting to experience the life it was evolved to have?
Thankfully in the Mary Valley we have at least 3 free-range pig farms where pigs get to live their days having a rip-roaring time, foraging, rooting up the soil, basking in the sunshine and wallowing in mud, interacting with each other and doing all the things that pigs are meant to do including renovating pastures (when managed correctly) that allow for regeneration of plant diversity and health.
Yes, this meat will cost you more because the pig is no longer subsidizing it for you. It will cost you more because the pigs are given space and space costs money. But ask yourself, do you want to have unlimited cheap bacon with a flat flavour profile, usually preserved with nitrates that have a questionable impact on human health? Or would you prefer to have food with the depth of flavour that comes from a varied diet, active muscles and a life that was biologically aligned with how it evolved? Eat less bacon if you have to but savour every mouthful and give a little prayer of thanks with each bite for the life that existed so that you can eat.
For real, free-range and local bacon visit us at the Kandanga Farm Store. You can also visit Forage Farms’ and Bunya Groves’ farm shops, google them for opening hours. There are so many options available locally and each time you support a local free-range farm you are supporting Australian farming, small business, production diversity and food integrity. Plus you get to eat real food that is nutritious and delicious!
