seems as though i've been doing lots of "farming" things lately! honestly, this LA girl has changed.. ha! i have no plans to be a farmer by any means, but it's definitely interesting to learn about their business and how it applies to our daily lives (whether we know it or not).
i had an opportunity to visit shinsato hog farm, a visit organized by higa meats - they're a retail outlet for these porks on oahu. myself, roy's koolina chefs, and jackie got a tour of the farm with several other industry people. shinsato farm is located in kaneohe, on the windward side of oahu. very interesting, owners, glenn & amy shinsato's parents bought the farm back in the 40's for like $5000 - seems so "cheap" now, but back then, $5000 was a lot for them! they currently have several sheds (not sure what they're really called) where the pigs are raised indoors until slaughter.
upon arrival, you're greeted with this sign, it made me smile for some reason...
anyone need a pig?
using my
photojojo fisheye lense, i was able to capture a moment where glenn and amy are sharing with us about their history, where they get their pigs and how they are raised. i love that you can see and understand the passion glenn and amy have for raising these pigs with total care to ensure the we get the best quality pork out there.
check these guys out... kurobutas, berkshire pigs = yumm!
gorgeous day in kaneohe! seriously, look how green and blue it is!
that's one of two mama pigs and her litter.
this is mama pig #2 feeding her litter. i learned that the mom makes this snoozing noise to let her babies know that its feeding time. it looks sad that the mom is caged up, but it's to protect her babies from getting smashed under her!
i got to hold this little baby! it was like holding a bunny or a cat because it seemed like it was going to jump out of my arms! it kept squealing so i gave it back! isn't it crazy - that little piggy grows up to be that ginormous mama pig?? wow!
these babies were just born four days prior to our visit!
moving on... this is in the shed next door - these pigs are about 3-4 months old. they're compounded in a small box, each containing about 14-15 pigs each.
(this shed smelled really bad with lots of flies in it!)
cute huh?? haha.
another view of the farm and kaneohe!
i didn't take any pictures, but they gave us a tour of the slaughter house too.. it wasn't as bloody and gory as you'd expect, but i didn't feel ethical taking pictures of the place where bloody murder happens! just joking. it was really nice - the pigs are well taken care of by glenn and amy. they slaughter every friday with an inspector. the inspector analyzes if the pig will be usda approved or not. glenn mentioned that if at any point during the first part of stopping their heart, if the pig squeals, it is automatically deemed NOT usda approved because it's viewed as "animal cruelty"! how wasteful of such deliciousness... :(
anyway, after they've been put down, all this stuff happens. at the very end, amy goes through and carefully shaves every single pig close to the skin with a razor. most slaughter houses don't do that, but since people in hawaii love to eat the skin, they do their best to make sure there's no pig hair left.
all in all, my visit was very educational and i enjoyed it. as we walked, i talked to amy a lot and she was very nice about sharing with me the history and the future of the farm. unfortunately, shinsato farm will probably end with her and glenn, as one, there's not much money making in farming and two, her only daughter probably won't be taking over (due to the lack of money making.. she doesn't want to put that on her daughter's family). so i guess for now, enjoy as much shinsato pigs as much and often as you can! :)
next up... what will this LA girl do now??
