04/20/2025
"Why is pastured pork priced higher than the grocery store?"
This is a question I get sometimes because our pork has a higher price point for most cuts than what most people are typically used to seeing in the grocery store, or even what they're used to buying from a local commodity producer.
All of the pork you will find in the grocery store is raised in confinement operations. These are closed to the elements facilities where pigs can more easily be managed in mass. These hogs are raised on concrete, in small areas with little to no ability to engage in natural behaviors. They are bred to grow to market weight by 6 months of age and eat a diet meant to put on weight quickly.
Our pastured pork is grown out on 24/7 access to a pasture seeded with alfalfa, turnips, clover, rye grass, millet, and chickory. They are fed a diet of locally milled grain, tons of garden vegetable surplus, and hay. They take 8-10 months to reach market weight by comparison. Our pigs are allowed to forage and wallow and we use them in regenerative practices here on our land.
Grocery store meat when compared side by side with pastured pork is leaner, more pale and has significantly less marbeling than the pastured pork alternative. Fat is flavor in cooking, and any chef worth their weight in the kitchen will tell you that good marbeling is what they're after. Because pastured pigs are able to walk around and forage the resulting meat is a deeper red with more flavor due to the fat content of our pigs. Our pastured pork also has higher nutritional density (vitamins E, D and selenium) than conventionally raised pork.
Quite simply, pastured pork is an entirely different product than conventional pork. It takes more time, labor and money to grow out, but we believe that process is worth it- and so do our customers. There is definitely a need for both (it is difficult to mass produce pork on pasture and we have many people in the world to feed) but we are happy to have found our niche here in the pastured pork world and to provide it as an option for our community.
We hope you try out our meat and see why we are so passionate about what we do here.
