Violet the pig has something to teach us all.
#EatNZKaitaki Nicole McKnight is a regenerative flower & food farmer in Murihiku, Violet and her pigs have allowed her to imagine a mana-centred local food system where nothing is wasted!
We have unlearned so many things we thought we knew about how to "traditionally" farm pigs due to this beautiful girl. Violet is like no other pig we have ever meet. Even though she is large and a determined character she is also gentle, trusting, comical, incredibly clever and very loving.
Violet and her daughter Date showed us that pigs do not need to be intensively managed and that when given the opportunity pigs can thrive grazing/foraging and birthing outdoors with very little input from us as farmers - (we do indulge in daily pats and scratchs and supplement their diets with waste milk during late pregnancy and lactation as well as feeding them unsaleable and fallen fruits, plus excess vegetables from the gardens).
Getting to sit with our mother pigs, watching them feed their babies and edit their nests, seeing the babies learning to dig, forage and play and having the big pigs come over for a scratch and a chat (yes Violet actually looks up into your face and talks to you like she is asking for a scratch) is such a privilege and a responsibility that we don't take lightly. Â
Our beautiful pigs and the learnings we made from mistakes we have made along the way, have inspired us to share how different pigs lives can be when they are kept out of pens and birthing crates and allowed to develop and live by their natural instincts.
Seeing a mother gather grass and then build a birthing nest with thick grass walls is a sight to behold.
Violet and her pigs that have followed have allowed us to imagine a food system where nothing is wasted. Where every small farm/orchard/market garden has a small family of pigs who create a closed-loop system of fertility and food resources.Â
Where small producers could contribute to a resilient food dynamic aka a Mana-centred local food system.
But for that to happen there is a glearing obstacle to be overcome.
Depending where you farm it is incredibly difficult to get pigs processed into pork for sale, especially here in the lower south. (Yes we can consume our own homegrown meat but selling it is another story).
The ability to share a product of that happy natural existence experienced by our pigs, legally, is beyond difficult. And so "we" import around 60% of the pork consumed here in Aotearoa from countries with lower animal welfare standards than here (according to NZ Pork).
As a nation of primary producers this shouldn't be our reality.Â
To be able to nourish our community with locally grown produce should be made a priority for the welfare of human and animals alike.
Words and images by Nicole McKnight @feastival_farm