Andy Case - Beautiful Pigs: Portraits of Champion Breeds

portraits of

CHAMPION BREEDS

ANDY CASE

photographed byANDREW PERRIS

I HAVE BEEN INTERESTED IN TRADITIONAL PIG breeds ever since my wife gave me a Tamworth sow for Christmas more than 20 years ago. She (the sow, not my wife) was grandly christened the Empress of Cranborne, and ended her days in contented retirement after many years of productive motherhood.

As time went on, the Empress acquired companions. Thomasina, another Tamworth, graced the pig enclosures at Cranborne for many years. These two ladies were joined by other Tamworths, some of them their own progeny, and by distinguished pigs from other breeds: Middle Whites and Large Blacks.

The Cranborne pig enterprise thrived, and the pig population divided into two unequal parts. The first consisted of weaners, which we fattened and sold in our shop as sausages, pork, bacon, or any part of the myriad things that you make from a pig. Many weaners ran in the woods, doing good to the ground, in a modern version of medieval pannage. The second and smaller part consisted of pigs bred for the show ring and cosseted in dedicated pig paddocks. We have had a measure of success showing the three breeds at shows and have even managed to win the occasional trophy.

Encouraged by the camaraderie of the pig exhibitors, we ventured to establish our own show at Hatfield, and it is now one of the biggest pig shows in England.

The human race has not benefited from its increasing dependence on unhealthy food. Nutritionists, sociologists, and politicians have begun to understand that the quality of what we eat has a profound influence on the stability of our society and the health of the nation. The traditional breeds are the guarantors of that quality. If they flourish, we will flourish.

That does not mean that we should eat meat only from purebred Traditional pigs. All of us value the vigor that comes from crossbreeding. However, we need also to ensure that the traditional breeds exist in sufficient quality and quantity to perform their role. How should we best do that? Paradoxically, by eating them. The more demand that there is for their meat, the more breeders will respond and pig numbers will grow.

I would very much like to commend this book to you. You will see from the delightful illustrations that pigs are indeed beautiful animals. I hope this book will make all those who read it enthusiastic supporters of Traditional breed pigs and even encourage some to take up breeding as well as eating them.

Lord Salisbury

January 2009

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
W INSTON C HURCHILL (18741965), B RITISH P RIME M INISTER

H UMANS AND PIGS HAVE A STRONG AFFINITY. People smile when they see a pigcould it be that they recognize something within themselves that they share with the animal?

Like humans, pigs are intelligent creatures, yet their behavior often appears paradoxical. On occasion, when the wind blows and it pours with rain, the sow will decide to turn her arc around to face the elements. When the human goes to feed her the next morning, the old sow is standing in the mud next to a mass of wet straw.