Pastured Pork

A South Carolina hog farmer is part of a new trend among some smaller producers to raise their animals in a “natural” way, and go for a growing niche market.

If there’s such a thing as “hog heaven,” it probably looks a little like the Caw Caw Creek Farm near St. Matthews in Calhoun County, South Carolina. The young porkers there roam freely in pastures and woods around the farm.  No pig pens for them. The man they have to thank is Emile DeFelice. DeFelice says that when he decided to raise pigs eight years ago, he was determined to try it the “old-fashioned way.”  

For starters, that meant letting his pigs out of their poke:  “Basically, make their own schedule. Associate with the pigs with whom they choose to associate, raise their own young, be near their families, wean their pigs when they feel like weaning them.  And just basically live the life for which they were designed. “

DeFelice looks out for the comfort of his livestock, and he’s pretty comfortable with them himself. He spoke with us right in the heart of Caw Caw Creek Farm’s porker playground. It’s all part of his program for raising “stress-free” pigs. 

He’s convinced his method makes for a superior slice of pork at the dinner table:  “I saw a niche there that I could fill by producing actually fatty pork that was more red in color than white, and also more economically viable for me because I could do it with very little overhead.”

DeFelice’s hogs look a little unusual, and most of them are. They’re the descendants of so-called Ossabaw Island pigs found along the Georgia coast long ago – themselves descendants of pigs brought by the earliest Spanish explorers. Today they’re designated an heirloom breed. They grow more slowly than other breeds, but they put on more fat. And however un-nutrionally correct it may sound, DeFelice says it’s the fat that makes their meat especially flavorful. 
                  
His hogs forage well on acorns, hickory nuts and grass, but DeFelice augments that with a specially-designed diet. It includes such unusual fare as tofu – the Japanese staple made from soybeans.

“We give them a lot of good protein, a lot of good starch, a lot of good energy in the carbohydrates, and a lot of good fat,” says DeFelice. 

Finally, a dessert most humans would envy: “Peanut butter, chocolate chip, all-natural ingredients cookie dough.  Yum.”     
 
Well these little guys will be ready for market when they’re a whopping 350 pounds. That’s about a hundred pounds more than the average pig. Now between this delectable diet and their exercise they are not the other white meat what you get is the other red meat!                                                                                                

As every chef know, the proof’s in the pudding – in this case, pork chop.  DeFelice shows off a cut of pork from one of his animals: “As you can see from that one right there, there’s a lot of good fat on these chops. And fat carries the vitamins and minerals, but it also carries the flavor.”                                                                                 

DeFelice markets his pork directly to restaurants and consumers through word of mouth and his website.

“The biggest charge I get is when a regular family, say from a neighboring county or town and has heard about it somehow – probably word of mouth – and just wants to put good healthy local food on their plates for their own family right here in South Carolina.”

As for the future, DeFelice says he’ll work on expanding his product line.

“As a matter of fact, we’re going to make a gourmet honey cheese dog.  We have local cheese being made for that as well. I’d like to make some dried sausages. And just continue finding out different ways to prepare good pork.”

Caw Caw Creek Pastured Pork
www.cawcawcreek.com