Heritage Tamworth Pork

We like to buy local products when possible so with great pleasure we picked up 1/2 a hog last weekend from BackFortyAcres in Chelsea, Michigan. Believe it or not, if you shop around, buying premium heritage pork from local producers is very affordable.

The Tamworth pork was priced at $3.25 per pound - hanging weight - for our 110 lbs. The processing charge for butchering was roughly $80 and we selected a premium sausage option and smoking for some of the cuts, which added another $40 to the total bill with a couple of other miscellaneous charges bringing the final price to $450.

This is only two-thirds of the 110 lbs.
The rest wouldn't fit and is in the spare freezer downstairs.

Some may say that our pork was too expensive. Compared to pork at the local Meijer or Wal-Mart SuperCenter grocery stores, it does cost more but premium pork is worth a little extra.

The Tamworth we bought was raised in the pasture, on dirt, and not in some confinement building. The hog has been fed no hormones, antibiotics, or growth steroids. Since the taste of pork is derived from the environment the pigs live in, healthy living conditions and feed stock produces a very tasty meat. Raising the animals without the aids of hormones, antibiotics, or steroids does take a little longer to reach market weight and does add to the cost of production, so the prices reflect that.

It's a matter of choice. If the quality of food matters to you, like it does to me, the extra price is worth every penny.