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Did you know that pigs in Spain outnumbered inhabitants by 3,5 millions???
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ent-spain-pigs-outnumber-humans-pork-industry
I think so. I guess they added all those "pigs" on two legs (politicians) to the final count ?Yes, and we know why?
Did you know that pigs in Spain outnumbered inhabitants by 3,5 millions???
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ent-spain-pigs-outnumber-humans-pork-industry
I really must clean my glasses more often - I first read that as "pigs in Space". Interesting article although, outside of a Jamonaria (have you seen the one in Ponferrada?) I don't recall seeing a single pig while on Camino.Did you know that pigs in Spain outnumbered inhabitants by 3,5 millions???
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ent-spain-pigs-outnumber-humans-pork-industry
I don't recall seeing a single pig while on Camino.
The expansion of the Spanish pig industry is export driven and the criticism is mainly against macrogranjas - huge farms - on an industrial scale, so I guess not the apparently happy black pigs who are feasting on acorns in the open air
@Wendy Werneth, The article cited in the first message of this thread refers to current changes of the model of raising livestock in certain parts of Spain and the environmental threat is caused by the fact that industrial scale farming of this type produces too much natural fertilizer for the soil to absorb in such huge annual quantities - "pig poop" as such is no danger to the environment.
I google a few related articles in Spanish before I commented. I fear this discussion is heading straight for closure of the thread so I'm resolved to bail out now. The thought occurred to me that the root cause may not be too many pigs but just too many people with too much money and convenient access to food ...
Yes, this is one of the points made in the Guardian article. The farmers we spoke to were pretty hot under the collar over farms who increased their stock numbers and fattening pigs on scraps and pellets rather then acorns. Nut fed pork has a very different fat profile to grain fed pigs. I guess it's a bit like a number of things, when something increases in popularity it's human nature to try and cash in, even if it leads to short cuts and loss of quality.Not all of the patanegras are fed only by acorns. I remember on Camino de Madrid at approx.5kms after Penaflor de Hornija where you enter a small forested area there were a lot of cellophane wraps all around the route and I didn't get it until a bit later I came to a pig farm. See attached photos although I didn't want to take photos of trash so you can't see any cellophane. But at the fence there were even more cellophane wraps and I picked up one to see what's it all about. It was a sandwich wrap, like for those that are sold on petrol stations. I guess the farmer was feeding the patanegras with sandwiches too old to be sold to humans.
Oh, I bloody hope not. Or if he was I hope he is an ex-farmer by now. The last serious outbreak of Swine Fever in the UK was attributed to a discarded sandwich. https://www.independent.co.uk/envir...-have-caused-swine-fever-outbreak-698448.htmlI guess the farmer was feeding the patanegras with sandwiches too old to be sold to humans.
Yuck!@Jeff Crawley It's not surprising that you didn't see any pigs, as they are generally kept locked away in concrete buildings. Here's a photo of one on the Camino, between Ponte Campana and Arzúa:
View attachment 45549
I would not have realized there were pigs inside except that I happened to walk past while some of them were being loaded onto a truck to be taken to the slaughterhouse. Their eyes still haunt me.
View attachment 45550
View attachment 45551
@Kathar1na As for the so-called happy pigs who are not imprisoned in these hell holes their whole lives, they still drink just as much water and poop just as much poop as other pigs, so raising them in this way does not avoid the environmental destruction described in the article. And of course, they are still killed in the end, which I'm sure they're not at all "happy" about.
Now that would make a great tee-shirt: I walked the Camino and all I got was pigs and a nut farm@Kanga is right, if you want to see the iberico pigs then you need to walk the Vdlp. These are free range black footed porkers. Scott was so impressed with them (more so the jamon) he even manage to break out a smattering of Spanish to talk with local farmers about how they are raised and processed. Fascinating for him, not so much for me (as I am a vegetarian). How he ever managed to convince me to buy a nut farm so he could raise pigs is beyond me, but our own free range pigs are very happy and we've even had a few Spanish and Portuguese farmers come over to check out what the crazy kiwis are doing.
O Cebriero 2003 after a Orujo party (me not the Jabalí )You mean boars like this one?
Seems quite domesticated to me
View attachment 45560
Photo taken in La Portela de Valcarce on CF in 2011.
You looking good if it was "any decent" Orujo partyO Cebriero 2003 after a Orujo party (me not the Jabalí )
View attachment 45599
That’s what I kept repeating while walking from Irún to SdC!!! Where are the pigs???? There was every other farm animal pretty much everyday—-but no pigs!!!I really must clean my glasses more often - I first read that as "pigs in Space". Interesting article although, outside of a Jamonaria (have you seen the one in Ponferrada?) I don't recall seeing a single pig while on Camino.
Last year on the Camino Portuguese after I crossed into Spain. I saw a very happy familly of Gloucester old spot pigs inside a large enclosure on the outskirts of a village. Not quite sure why a classic old English breed was doing there? They do make very good ham and bacon though:-} There were some Spanish pilgrims looking at the pigs and I told them their English name. My Spanish is not good enough to translate "old Spot".I really must clean my glasses more often - I first read that as "pigs in Space". Interesting article although, outside of a Jamonaria (have you seen the one in Ponferrada?) I don't recall seeing a single pig while on Camino.
THANKS so much for this comment. I don't feel so alone now. I'll be sure to check out your post about how to manage as a vegetarian. The pigs know what's about to happen, they scream and they are quite brilliant creatures. I cannot participate in their murder...no matter how "good" bacon or ham tastes.@Jeff Crawley It's not surprising that you didn't see any pigs, as they are generally kept locked away in concrete buildings. Here's a photo of one on the Camino, between Ponte Campana and Arzúa:
View attachment 45549
I would not have realized there were pigs inside except that I happened to walk past while some of them were being loaded onto a truck to be taken to the slaughterhouse. Their eyes still haunt me.
View attachment 45550
View attachment 45551
@Kathar1na As for the so-called happy pigs who are not imprisoned in these hell holes their whole lives, they still drink just as much water and poop just as much poop as other pigs, so raising them in this way does not avoid the environmental destruction described in the article. And of course, they are still killed in the end, which I'm sure they're not at all "happy" about.
Jamon Iberico? MmmmmYes, and we know why?
I guess, I'm somewhat of a "flexitarian" because hunting and eating killed "wild" game has never conflicted me nearly as much as all that factory farming and suffering.On my first camino, at Hospital de la Condesa, shortly after O'Cebreiro, I happened on the aftermath of a boar hunt. Three pickup trucks were parked in front of the local bar, which was packed with hunters celebrating their kills. In the back of each pickup truck was a dog kennel, from which several dogs looked out. On top of each of the kennels were the bodies of two or three dead boars, bleeding down onto the kennels. I did not know what to think (or feel). I am a vegetarian. However, the practice of importing wild boar for farming and recreational boar hunting has resulted in some accidental escapes into my home environment. Here is what the government of my home province has to say about this: https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/bus16299 . If wild boar hunting in Spain keeps the population under control and provides desired meat for local hunters, I must regard it as a useful activity within the Spanish context.
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