“No lips that touch Swine, will touch mine.” I stopped eating Pork when I was around 15 yrs old. I remember reading the autobiography of Malcolm X. After reading the life story of Brotha Malcolm (RIP) I decided to do my own research on the pig. Pigs genetically are not made up like other animals and don’t contain the natural cleaning system most domesticated animals contain. The over consumption of pork products is also one of the major problems causing a number of health issues in the African American community.
Out of the top five meats consumed in the United States, pork is ranked 3rd. According to the FDA, in 2010 the average American consumes 55-75 lbs of Pork per year. In the culinary world we are taught pork needs to cook to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. However in the industry I have seen a number of people order pork medium and was served what they ordered. This is highly dangerous because of the internal make up and cleaning system of the pig itself.
Pigs are biologically similar to humans, and their meat is said to taste similar to human flesh. Pigs have been used for dissection in biology labs due to the similarity between their organs and human organs. In the past people with insulin-dependent diabetes usually inject themselves with pig insulin. Pigs are also glutinous animals (meaning they eat until food is gone not until they are full), and will eat any type of food, including dead insects, worms, rotting carcasses (including their own), garbage, and other pigs.
A pig has one- one chambered stomach, unlike other domesticated animals which contain more actual stomachs with different chambers. This is extremely important when it comes to the processing of the materials the pig eats. The inability to digest food properly causes a higher number of pathogens to be absorbed in the actual flesh of the animal. This is where the problem of Trichinosis comes in.
Trichinosis is a condition that stems from the eating of raw or inadequately cooked meat, especially pork. The pathogens imbedded in the flesh from a poor digestive system are digested by humans. Those pathogens then release larvae, which reach maturity and mate in the intestines. The parasites are then carried from the gastrointestinal tract by the blood stream to various muscles where they attach themselves. It is estimated that 10%-20% of the adult population of the United States has suffered from some form of Trichinosis at some time. In the 1960’s, the FDA understand the seriousness of this situation, started regulating what pigs were feed and started forcing farmers to inject there pig livestock with de-wormers.
Similar to humans since pigs have issues with digestion, they have a higher content of salt in their flesh. This is why people love to cook with pork. The natural saltiness and sweetness that comes from cooking with pork products is hard to duplicate. Historically the average price for a pound of pork has been considerably lower than chicken, beef, lamb, or seafood and therefore, for years was consumed at a higher rate in low income areas. Even in the time of slavery, pig parts were so cheap in value they were given to slaves as food. From the scraps given beautiful dishes were created, however nutritional wise they were high in fat, sugar and sodium.
The way pork was traditionally used in lower income areas have affected the African American population as a whole. Because of the extreme use of pork products and sugar we suffer from epidemics like obesity, high blood pressure, and hypertension just to name a few.
