Elizabeth Miller wrote:

> Can someone explain why being a scavenger with only one stomach is
> supposed to make an animal unfit to eat -- I mean by the time the pig
> processes whatever food through it's stomach and the nutrients are
> absorbed into his body to make his structure, why should it be unclean.
> Does the pig somehow absorb and incorporate 'contaminants' into his body
> more than other animals? Whatever problems pigs might have had in the
> past, I don't think modern farming methods allow them to scavenge at all
> in fact. Concerning parasites -- I would think this would have more to
> do with sanitation than diet. My goodness many, many a culture has
> featured pig meat and fat prominently in their diets (including the
> vaulted Okinawains) without harm from what I can tell. Perhaps someone
> can explain why pig meat has such a bad reputation apart from biblical
> restrictions.

Another bad parasite with pigs and bears also is trichinosis.  This is why
everybody says to cook pork well done.  It used to be common in pigs,
but has just about died out in the U.S. due to changes in diet, etc.  I
think
it is still common in bears.

If you're a believer in the practicality of religious strictures, rather
than the
divine inspiration, there is enough evidence for problems with parasites in
pork to justify it in the olden days.

But from the practicality angle, I'm stumped on the rule against
ostrich.  They
seem to eat no differently from chicken, which is perfectly okay.

    Lynnet