Mary Anne wrote:
>     I have seen many meats described, except for raw pork. What do purist raw food people do about pork - follow the Bible's command to eschew (avoid) pork at all?
>
> Mary Anne
> .
>
I believe the answer is that each individual on a raw food diet will
make that an individual choice. I do not know how pigs are cared for and
what they are fed.

I think raw food choices have to do more with the way in which an animal
is fed and cared for prior to being slaughtered - and even the way in
which it is slaughtered has an affect on the meat.  Healthy cows, bison,
chicken and fish are readily available in the U.S. if one looks
carefully for them.  So they tend to be the choice in raw food circles
with the exception of wild caught meats such as rabbit, venison, duck,
etc.  But again even those wild animals need to eat appropriate foods to
be healthy in the first place (so farmed fish, for example, is
definitely not on the raw fooder's menu).

One can find meat from cows and bison that are fed their natural food
which is mostly grass from a pasture. Chickens are omnivores so free
range and access to bugs and small animals is a must for the best
chickens and eggs.  For any animal that will be food, feeding it with
appropriate food in a good environment and caring for it produces the
highest quality products.  That animals "are what they eat" and "we are
what we eat" can be said with conviction.

Going with that idea, if a pig was fed what nature intended and it was
organic, etc. then the pig should be healthy and should provide a
healthy meat.  So a) finding out what they eat in nature is first and b)
finding someone that farms them with those foods in a good environment
would be second.  I know at least two people on a raw food diet who like
organic, home-grown pork and espouse its virtues.  And, in case anyone
was wondering, it is not a white meat (harrumph!) - it is red :)

As to slaughtering it is no secret that the animal's fear of impending
death somehow affects the resulting meat in a negative way.  So the best
farmers know that they have to surprise the animal so it does not know
it is being slaughtered.

Now - to be fair - there is a group of raw food eaters that believe that
a good diet includes the best grown foods (truly organic, etc.) and a
goodly (not excessive) amount of parasites, fungi, viruses and bacteria;
that they help the body "clean up" and that they are vital for vibrant
and balanced health.  So a few parasites or worms in pork or fish, or
bacteria in meats, or fungus on berries, etc., would not be a big deal
so long as the diet was balanced and raw.  I happen to be a member of
that particular group.

A bit of a ramble but I hope it is helpful.

Regards,

-=mark=-