I’m a new girl on CRG, and for the past six months there has been no end to the derby lessons I’ve learned, get low, hit with the hips, keep your elbows in, move your feet, people will buy more pint glasses than water bottles at a bout, spelling bees are not just for kids, fanny packs ARE great … I try to keep open minded and apply every bit of info I can. When I heard that we were going to celebrate our first scrimmage-a-fun and our awesome volunteers with a pig pickin’ I had trouble putting on my ‘happy to try new things’ face.
I’m from New York, where barbecue just means cooked on the grill. I’ve never been big on pork, I can say no to bacon even as I smell it cooking. I figured I’d just play vegetarian that day, eat a huge mound of coleslaw and call it good. When I came through the buffet line, a man serving the roasted pork just plunked it on my plate, and next thing I knew Jojo was assessing my ability to handle heat and slathering on some mild (phew) sweet and tangy sauce.
I didn’t want to be ungrateful and wasteful, so I took a bite. The pork was super tender, moist and flavorful; it was incomparable to any pork I’d ever eaten. On my second buffet trip up, I skipped the sides and went straight for the pig. Delicious…okay pork, I’ll give you that, but I hesitated to proclaim my love for pork because pig farms are sooo bad, right?
I did a little research, and even met the farmer myself. This pig was donated to CRG by MAE Farm, in a deal worked out by Fritts O’Frenic. MAE Farm’s farmer, Mike, uses no hormones or antibiotic. He has 220 pigs on 73 acres of pasture, allowing the pigs lots of room to root and wallow in the mud, so the pigs lead a pretty happy, healthy life. The pasture method allows manure to be spread out and absorbed by plants as fertilizer, as opposed to the concentrated manure of bigger, concrete floored farms that runs off, polluting local water supply. Farmer Mike teaches other farmers about ethical and humane livestock production. Whole Foods buys from MAE Farm because it meets their “Animal Compassion” standards.
When you join roller derby, you never know what you will learn. I’m so glad that I know that I don’t have to feel guilty about how my pork was raised if I get it from MAE Farm, and I know how tender, juicy, and amazing it can be. I’m looking forward to my next pig pickin’.
You can get MAE Farm pork and other meats from:
The Raleigh Farmers Market (The upper enclosed building)
By calling in an order to (252)204-8474. Pricing is available at: http://maefarmmeats.com/ourmeats.html
Whole Foods Markets
Contributed by Bash to the Future
