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P ig Brett Mizelle Animal series Pig Animal Series editor: Jonathan Burt Already published Ant Fox Rhinoceros Charlotte Sleigh Martin Wallen Kelly Enright Ape Fly Salmon John Sorenson Steven Connor Peter Coates Bear Giraffe Shark Robert E. Bieder Mark Williams Dean Crawford Bee Hare Snail Claire Preston Simon Carnell Peter Williams Camel Horse Snake Robert Irwin Elaine Walker Drake Stutesman Cat Lion Sparrow Katharine M. Rogers Deidre Jackson Kim Todd Cockroach Moose Spider Marion Copeland Kevin Jackson Katja and Sergiusz Michalski Cow Otter Swan Hannah Velten Daniel Allen Peter Young Crow Oyster Tiger Boria Sax Rebecca Stott Susie Green Dog Peacock Tortoise Susan McHugh Christine E. Jackson Peter Young Donkey Parrot Trout Jill Bough Paul Carter James Owen Duck Penguin Vulture Victoria de Rijke Stephen Martin Thom Van Dooren Eel Pig Whale Richard Schweid Brett Mizelle Joe Roman Elephant Pigeon Daniel Wylie Barbara Allen Falcon Rat Helen Macdonald Jonathan Burt Pig Brett Mizelle reaktion books For my mother, Marion Jones Nairn Mizelle Published by reaktion books ltd 33Great Sutton Street London ec1v 0dx, uk www.reaktionbooks.co.uk First published 2011 Copyright © Brett Mizelle2011 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers. Printed and bound in China British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Mizelle, Brett. Pig. – (Animal) 1. Suidae. 2. Swine. 3. Swine as laboratory animals. 4. Pork industry and trade. 5. Swine in literature. 6. Swine in art. I. TitleII. Series 599.6'33-dc22 isbn: 978 1 86189 805 0 Contents Preface 7 1 What is a Pig? 12 2 A Shared History 26 3 Hogs in the New World 41 4 Meat 65 5 Human–Pig Partnerships 94 6 Good Pigs and Bad Pigs 116 7 Pigs of the Imagination 138 8 The Return of the Repressed: Wild-living Pigs 172 Timeline of the Pig 182 References 184 Select Bibliography 204 Associations and Websites 212 Acknowledgements 214 Photo Acknowledgements 216 Index 219 Preface Pigs are ubiquitous in the modern world, whether we are talk- ing about the more than one billion domesticated pigs on the planet or the countless representations of pigs and ‘piggish- ness’ that circulate through most of the world’s cultures. The pig is an animal that seems well enough known: who, after all, does not know what a pig is or knows what it means to call someone a ‘pig’? As it turns out, however, pigs – as both living animals and as symbols – deserve a second look, a reconsideration of both their unique talents and their contribution to human history. While a comprehensive history of the extensive, varied and compli- cated human–pig relationship is impossible, I hope to show that pigs are more than just the 18per cent ham, 16per cent bacon, 15per cent loin, 12per cent fatback, 10per cent lard and 3per cent each of spare rib, plate, jowl, foot and trimmings that exit the modern packing plant. After all, pigs have been structurally and symbolically significant in the making of human society and culture across the globe. Pigs have fed us, entertained us and provided us with ways to think about our relationships with each other on this porcine planet. The pig has also been shaped by its long relationship with humans. Evolution and human intervention have led to the development of more than 500breeds and varieties of pigs that 7 ‘Those persons who have attended at all to the manners of Swine, have observed, that they are by no means deficient in sagacity; but the short lives that we allow them, and the general confinement they undergo, entirely prevent their improvement can be found on every continent except Antarctica. In addition in this respect’: to their use as food, pigs have been subjects of medical experi- ‘Swine’ from William Bingley, mentation and bred to provide ‘spare parts’ for humans, as there Memoirs of British are numerous similarities between human and pig physiology. Quadrupeds . . . (1809). In an interesting paradox, however, the more pigs there are in the world, the harder it has become to see them. Although living pigs used to be familiar in a number of social environments, over time, especially in developed nations, they have vanished from view. Recent developments in the way pork is produced Daughter of resettlement client, San Luis Valley Farms, Alamosa, Colorado, poses with two of her father’s fine pigs’, c. 1939. The usgovernment relocated about 10,000impover- ished farming families to more promising land during the New Deal. 8
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