I sold them some breeding stock a while ago.
If you want to buy some pigs, call Gar House at 530-757-2294 or 760-522-7777.
It is funny that just when I was thinking about Imre, the Hungarians call about their Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa pigs.
I suggested to them that they get licensed by the state to kill and process the pigs. It would be great if Hungarians (and non-Hungarians) could order half or whole Mangalitsa pigs, turned into traditional Hungarian products - by pigs bred, fattened, slaughtered and processed all on the same farm - by them. There's two reasons:
- Killing the pigs on the farm means one can arrange a zero-stress kill.
- When the producer manages things from start to finish, he's got the incentives and ability to optimize everything to meet the needs of his customers. This is why I don't like small slaughter plants. Custom butchers typically suck too; what sort of guy spends his life killing animals, cutting them up, and making products out of them, for ungrateful farmers and other cheapskates? The sort of guy who can't hold a decent job.
4 comments:
How do you get licensed to kill and process pigs with the state of California? Haven't heard of that being possible. Also, not so cool to say that all butchers suck and can't hold down a decent job. A lot of butchers take their job seriously and consider themselves artisans. We have worked with some fine ones when we were producers in California. To be sure, some are simply industrial meat cutters, but others are highly skilled craftspeople.
Rebecca T. of Honestmeat --
I suggest you look here for info on custom slaughter and state-inspected processing.
Where did I say that "all butchers suck?"
This is what I consider artisanal butchery. If you've got guys that can cut pigs that way, in addition making products like speck, you are very lucky.
Sorry Heath. I must have misunderstood what you wrote, "This is why I don't like small slaughter plants. Custom butchers typically SUCK too; what sort of guy spends his life killing animals, cutting them up, and making products out of them, for ungrateful farmers and other cheapskates? The sort of guy who can't hold a decent job."
Also, the link you refer to is for on-farm custom slaughter. It is only for home consumption, so no farmers can't sell that product. There is nobody, to my knowledge, that can kill & cut up animals on their farm in California and sell that meat to customers (except for the on-farm poultry exemption). You may want to look further into it.
As for so-called "ungrateful farmers", I have never met a single one. But I certainly have met a lot of businessmen and distributors such as yourself who are ungrateful of all the hard-work that real farmers do on a daily basis. Using the kinda of derogatory language that you do towards both butchers and farmers makes we wonder why any would want to work with you.
Rebecca T. of Honestmeat: Sorry Heath. I must have misunderstood what you wrote, "This is why I don't like small slaughter plants. Custom butchers typically SUCK too.."
Me: I said "typically suck". You wrote the following, "Also, not so cool to say that all butchers suck and can't hold down a decent job. "
I clearly didn't say all of them suck. If nothing else, this custom butcher (and I had him in mind when I composed my post) is one of the best. Of course, unlike nearly every other custom butcher I've met, he's conscientious, educated, listens to his customers, makes the products they want made, etc.
Rebecca: Also, the link you refer to is for on-farm custom slaughter. It is only for home consumption, so no farmers can't sell that product. There is nobody, to my knowledge, that can kill & cut up animals on their farm in California and sell that meat to customers (except for the on-farm poultry exemption). You may want to look further into it.
Me: The farmer doesn't sell the meat, of course (that would be illegal). He sells the half pig, kills it, processes it and gives the meat to the guy who bought the half. Imagine a custom butcher who has a pen of pigs behind his meat processing facility - he's a combination farmer/butcher. Like this guy or this guy. My hope is that the Csarda Haz guys will do something like that.
Rebecca: As for so-called "ungrateful farmers", I have never met a single one.
Me: I've met plenty of farmers who aren't grateful for the work that customer butchers do. For whatever reason, a lot of farmers feel entitled.
Rebecca: But I certainly have met a lot of businessmen and distributors such as yourself who are ungrateful of all the hard-work that real farmers do on a daily basis. Using the kinda of derogatory language that you do towards both butchers and farmers makes we wonder why any would want to work with you.
Me: I'm very grateful of the work that my producers do. They know that. I think that's one of the reasons they like working with me.
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