Porky Parable
By Robin Holtom
Reading that the People’s Republic of China is building a 26-storey factory farm for 650,000 pigs, I am reminded of Charles Lamb’s essay on Roast Pork. “Mankind, according to an ancient Chinese manuscript, for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw, clawing or biting it from the living animal.” So begins Lamb’s essay on the discovery of roast pork.
He describes how, by chance, a Chinese farmer burnt down his house and with it a number of piglets. The farmer happened to touch the burnt animal and realised it tasted excellent. Consequently after a while, it happened that his house burnt down once more and his family enjoyed another excellent meal. It soon transpired that this farmer’s house began to burn down regularly, and he took less and less trouble rebuilding it. His neighbours eventually realised why this was happening, but they considered him a heretic for thinking he could improve on the food “which God had sent them”.
Finger-Licking Good
The farmer therefore was brought to trial. The case was going against him but, before the jury gave their verdict, the foreman of the jury asked if they could examine the roast piglet; as soon as they licked their fingers, each member of the jury decided that the man was no longer guilty of heresy. The judge, “who was a shrewd fellow,” released the prisoner and immediately set about buying up a monopoly of all the local pigs. Soon his own much grander house started to burn down with increasing frequency. He also took less and less trouble rebuilding it until one day it dawned on him, since he was shrewd, that he only needed to make a small fire to cook the pigs on. And that apparently is how roast pork was discovered.
Charles Lamb warns his readers against “placing too implicit faith in the account”. Nonetheless, reading it two hundred years after he wrote it, the fable has a striking contemporary relevance. It implies vividly that collateral damage may accompany any improvement in one’s standard of living and this is a truth that we in industrialised countries have been overlooking for some centuries.
Damage Reduction
The fable gives three scenarios suggesting the way in which this collateral damage is aggravated and also how it may be reduced.
- The initial discovery, which might raise the standard of living, was blocked by bigotry, inertia and a general reluctance to change traditional ways.
- As soon as the discovery was more public, a shrewd fellow turns up and buys a monopoly and exploits it for his own private advantage.
- It takes some time and only a gradual dawning of consciousness before moderation is achieved.
As an example of scenario one, I recently experienced a similar, though more modest enlightenment to the ancient Chinese inventors of roast pork. I have been reluctant to use a microwave for some years, as friends told me microwaves caused devilish radiation. However, during the recent cost of living crisis, I realised that I could bake a potato in 10 minutes in a microwave, whereas it took up to 90 minutes in an electric oven. This causes both less collateral environmental damage and is more convenient. So my initial superstitious resistance to change can be managed, my standard of living maintained and I can reduce my electricity bill.
Protecting Modesty
Scenario two involves the shrewd fellow who gets some kind of monopoly on the improved standard of living. This fellow burnt down a much larger house many times before he found a less destructive way of roasting pork. The fashion trade here may be considered an example of such collateral damage. The damage caused simply to create warm clothes and protect human modesty is out of proportion to these essential needs.
Shrewd monopolists in the Exxon petrol company realised in the 1950s that it would be necessary to start a movement to deny the science that even then was throwing doubt on the benevolence of fossil fuels. In fact, in 1900, one third of motorcars had been fuelled by electricity. We evidently still have not reached a way of improving our standard of living without producing counterproductive results.
The third scenario concerns the slow dawning of awareness of the folly of our efforts to improve our standard of living. This cannot happen overnight and there are of course many distractions to prevent us from even noticing how we burn down our houses still. I was going to say we burn them down metaphorically but, of course, we actually are burning up our planetary home as a result of our foolishness – which we read as comical in the fable but is not comical in real life. How can this awareness be speeded up? Why did the ancient Chinese farmer take so long to stop burning down his house? Why did the shrewd fellow also continue burning down his house for so long before realising it was simply unnecessary?
Roman Envy
Rather than rushing to apportion blame, one might ask what is really necessary. Consider for a moment that a person living on social security in the UK today would be envied by a Roman Emperor for their ability to have a hot shower, use a mobile phone, use a fridge, use public transport and have a free health service. Then remember that the weekly food ration for an adult in the UK 80 years ago consisted of: bacon or ham 4oz/113gms, other meat (equivalent to 2 chops), butter 2oz/56gms, cheese 2oz/56gms, margarine 4oz/113gms, cooking fat 4oz/113gms, milk 3pints/1.7litres, sugar 8oz/226gms, preserve 1lb/520gms every two months, tea 2oz/ 56gms, 1 fresh egg (plus an allowance of dried egg).
So what is really necessary? I cannot answer this question in general terms but I do know that I can and have lived in far less prosperous conditions and the time has come for each of us to consider carefully how extravagantly we really need to live. Otherwise we will be forced to do so by outside forces completely beyond our control.
Sweet & Sour
China is the world’s leading consumer of pork. And also the world’s biggest pork producer.
Production in 2020 was 36 million metric tons. The EU is in second place with 24.1 million metric tons.
This still fails to meet China’s demands. African swine fever had a major impact with the loss of 100 million pigs between 2018 and 2020.
One response has been more intensive farming methods. High-rise Hog Hotels have been springing up around the country.The largest – so far – is 26 storeys tall, with the capacity to slaughter 1.2 million animals a year.
These new high-tech units are promoted as environmentally friendly and bio-secure, but critics say that production on this scale could lead to unprecedented disease outbreaks.
Animals raised in intensive units are not destined to live long; they could be ready for market in just a few months. Sows are usually culled after 3-5 litters, around 2-3 years. The natural lifespan of a sow is around 20 years.
Compassion in World Farming lists companies and supermarkets that have received their various animal welfare awards. Marks and Spencer currently claim that 100% of their pork is outdoor bred and British. This includes everything from pork chops to bacon but excludes continental charcuterie.
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