Overview

Natural pork products contain no artificial ingredients and are no more than minimally processed. Producers involved in raising natural pork have several marketing options. Some opt for direct marketing to consumers using the Internet or local advertising. Others market pork directly to local foodservice outlets, supermarkets or natural food stores.  March 2010 . . . Natural Pork


Marketing

• Another Option, QSR Magazine, 2005 - Bill Niman of Niman Ranch says his natural pork standards are better for taste, the animals and the earth. Niman pork is now carried by Denver-based Chipotle. 
• Global Agricultural Trade System, Foreign Ag Service, USDA.
• Hogs, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA.
• Factors Affecting Pork Consumption, ERS, USDA, 2005 - Pork ranks third in annual U.S. meat consumption. This report analyzes existing and potential pork consumption trends using demographic data.
• Pork: Marketing Alternatives, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA), NCAT, 2004 - This publication offers producers alternative marketing approaches, such as direct or niche marketing, for their pork.
• USDA Establishes Naturally Raised Marketing Claim Standard, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, 2009.

Processing/Manufacturing

• American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) - Representing more than 1,300 small- and medium-sized meat, poultry and food businesses.
• Food Labeling Procedures, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
• North American Meat Processors Association - NAMP is a nonprofit trade association that provides information and technical services to the meat processing industry.

Production

• Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, Beltsville, Maryland -  AFSIC provides information on organic food production, sustainable agriculture and community-supported agriculture. AFSIC is supported, in part, by USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.   
• Gilbert Hollis, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Phone: 217-265-9191, Email: hollisg@uiuc.edu.
• Mark Honeyman, Professor, Iowa State Research Farms, Iowa State University, Ames, Phone: 515-294-4621, Email: honeyman@iastate.edu.
• John McGlone, Professor, Pork Industry Institute, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Phone: 806-742-2805, Ext. 246, Email: john.mcglone@ttu.edu.
• Managing for Herd Health in Alternative Swine Systems: A Guide, Practical Farmers of Iowa, 2007 - This guide was funded with a grant from the North Central Region of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE), USDA.
• Production Research on Economics and Profitability; Hoop Systems, Environment and Welfare Issues; Food and Meat Quality; Growth Performance.
• Profitable Pork: Strategies for Hog Producers, 2001 - The Sustainable Agriculture Network provides examples of producers using alternative production methods.

Businesses/Case Studies

• Madewell Meats LLC, Aurora, Missouri - This ag business raises pigs in a natural environment without the use of antibiotics and growth hormones and markets the pork as all natural.
• Niman Ranch markets pork from Midwest family farmers. Pigs are raised on open pasture, given deeply bedded pens and fed natural ingredients. Pigs are not given any antibiotics or other artificial growth promotants.
• Northeast Iowa Specialty Meats is a consortium of family farmers who promote and sell their natural and organic food products. The livestock is not given any growth hormones and animal byproducts. Pork, beef and chicken are marketed directly to consumers using a Web site.
• Prairie Grove Farms, DeKalb, Illinois - These farms provide USDA-certified 100 percent antibiotic-free pork. The animals are bred for quality and fed for health.
• Swedish-Style Hog Production in Minnesota, Profitable Pork: Strategies for Hog Producers, SARE, NIFA, USDA.
• Van Wie Natural Foods, Hudson, New York - This USDA-certified natural grower of pork raises animals without the use of chemicals, hormones or antibiotics.

Links checked March 2010.