Bacon!

[WalkingMan]

I just heard on our local news station that bacon is America's favorite meat followed by filet mignon which also uses bacon. Honestly, meat has gotten so expensive, we have just about stopped buying bacon. I'm thinking about buying a pig and a calf to raise. The only problem is my wife and kids will get attached to it. They've never experienced food animals yet so I don't know how they would react.

[LivingToCamp]

Probably not good when daddy wanted to go kill it then expect them to eat some of it! I do know what you mean though. I love bacon so when I do buy it I try to make it last as long as I can.

[hummingbird]

We were raised on food animals but we had some that we considered pets that we didn't touch. Of course I was raised on a farm and had plenty of animals so we could do that.

[gregkthompson]

My parents always goes in with a friend and buys a whole pig or even a cow splits the price for it when it is all cut up and made to freeze.

[Newanderthal]

limit the time they spend with it. no petting of food animals, no naming them, no talking to them. It's not a pet and shouldn't be treated like one. Feed it, water it, inspect it to assure its health, and frequently talk about it as a meal. Food animals are like fruit trees. You raise them until it's time for the harvest. The days aren't time you spend with the animal, but a countdown until the feast. Seriously, the most important part is that the animal never has a name. It's the cow and the pig, not Cow and Pig.

[Lamebeaver]

That's good news and bad news. America's love affair with processed foods is not healthy.

I love bacon too, but spend a little more for the uncured variety without all the nitrates.

[Newanderthal]

Another option is to find an area near you that has a problem with wild hogs. South Louisiana and West Texas are infested to the point of overpopulation. In West Texas they are threatening local wildlife. I've hunted some of those hogs that were imported into Texas and that's some nice tasting meat.

You'll need to add your own grease because those animals don't have much fat.

[dinosaur]

Take your kids to a pig farm and introduce them to a sow with piglets or a big boar hog that would gladly eat them. They'll change their minds about pet pigs very quickly.

[Newanderthal]

Originally Posted by dinosaur

Take your kids to a pig farm and introduce them to a sow with piglets or a big boar hog that would gladly eat them. They'll change their minds about pet pigs very quickly.

This ain't Wilbur

[JimBob]

I'm the same way the kid would be. I just couldn't raise something like a pet and then kill it. I know millions and millions are slaughtered and I like meat, but I don't see it being done. I feel bad even when I see a dead animal in the road. I'm certainly not the hunter type, even though others in my family are. I like animals too much.