Pig Tales: An Omnivore's Quest for Sustainable Meat

This book is wonderfully organized, and a delightfully easy read. Although there is a wide expanse of information, from characteristics of pigs, to feral pig problems, to the workings (and large amounts of problems) of big farms and slaughterhouses, and finally towards an idyllic version of an alternative method--- the book is a quick read. With so many facts and characters all crammed into one book, it would be easy for Estabrook to create a tangled knot of a text. But it isn't. I'd recommend this book simply because you will learn a whole lot about an animal that is, excuse the pun, often left behind in the mud.

I live in rural Iowa where the threat of having my own life and the life of our small community brought to ruin by the enormous amounts of dangerous pollution caused by these giant hog CAFOs is a real fear from day to day. Especially now that the Chinese market has opened up. So I've read a lot of books on this subject, looking for an understanding of why our local farmers want to do this to us and especially whether the secretive Big Hog industry is telling us the truth when it says that we have to put up with the gut wrenching ills it foists on us for our farmers to survive and for people to be fed. I've learned quite a lot from various authors over the last couple of years and was not sure I was ready for yet another view of the subject. But Barry's interview on NPR captivated me so I ordered Pig Tales and having now read it, I am glad I did.This is an extremely well-written and well-researched book. Barry Estabrook is an incredibly gifted story teller. He's taken a uncomfortable topic with many dimensions and woven a comprehensible web of very human stories that are not only wonderfully informative, but that also touch the heart. I hope this book gets read widely. As a society we need to re-think our approach to food if we wish to live truly well, peacefully, and sustainably upon this planet of finite physical resources. This is a great introduction to the need and possibilities for raising meat animals more humanely and .healthfully.

I picked this book to read as I searched for topics about which I knew little or nothing. Also I had just had a heart valve replace with a pig valve, so in a real way, I was looking for more information about my donor. I enjoyed reading the book and learning more of some of the stories about which I had read before.... about pig waste products getting into rivers in North Carolina during a hurricane flooding event and about hog farms in the midwest being sources of foul odors. But here was also a story of redemption, about farmers finding ways to raise pigs more humanely, about Demark farmers doing it humanely and at very little extra cost per "pork chop." As I watch earlier about the Chinese buying a huge ham producing company, I wondered, are we becoming the farm producing country for Asia? Lots of answers in this book and a good read to boot. Thanks Mr. Estabrook. After reading this one I bought another called Tomato! Nothing like learning more about our food sources.

This is a VERY interesting book that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in the food they eat, especially pork. The author takes a look at the pork industry as a whole. Though not down on the business of raising pork to eat, it does point out some of flaws of large "industrial" pork farms and discusses why we, as consumers might need to know about it.

A well-researched and well-written book that never was repetitive or boring, the way journalistic books can occasionally be. I appreciated the great lengths Mr. Estabrook took to conduct his research and present all the angles of the pig industry. The book flowed and while the uglier sides of the industry were presented, it wasn't done in a sensationalistic way - the facts were there and they aren't pretty. You can't put lipstick on a pig, right?I'm grateful to have read such an informational book that will ultimately help inform my decisions as a pig consumer moving forward. Which is, to say, I intend to support local pig farmers and avoid the industrial pork at all costs. It's better for all of us.

This is informative, well written and more than jaw dropping in some cases. Pigs are smart. Men are cruel masters sometimes and are compassionate caretakers at other times. My son is a Wine Country Chef. This was a present for him. I read the book first. The Chef was raising 2 piglets that would become part of the gourmet meals for events at Epicurean Escapes. We eat meat. We love our bacon. We loved the book and are compelled by it to pay more attention to the abuse of the land, the animals and the law that greedy agribusiness has foisted on ​the popu

Well written, well researched, well told. This book has opened my eyes and touched my soul. I am grateful for Barry Estabrook's efforts to get this information to the public. I bought the book after hearing his interviews on public radio "Fresh Air" and "Science Friday." Miss Pig 890 will be with me for the time I have left on this planet.

Very well researched, informative and well written. As such, an easy read. It seems to offer both sides of the (several) story(ies) in a fair manner. An excellent example of journalism.

quite revealing makes me reluctant to eat supermarket pork