Wise Farmers: Benj Wilson

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When we filmed with Benj he was at Fir Farm managing an organic herd of Saddleback pigs which were fed on home grown oats and whey from the farm dairy, and allowed to root and graze in rotation on a mixed herbal leys.

“Something that we’ve certainly noticed is around feeding time with the pigs. Before we started this grazing system they would hear you driving towards them and go absolutely mad for their food, whereas now, although we are feeding them less grain and whey, they aren’t as hungry and they’re often all out in the field grazing with their heads down. You can sort of sneak up on them and they don’t really know, they’re not expecting it because they’re not so hungry.

So this pork is not only absolutely delicious. It tastes completely different (from factory farmed pork). It’s a healthy product for you, but also critically it is a healthy product for the environment. This is adding something to the environment, not taking away. We are producing a local food and we’re feeding it off this ground. We’re not feeding them imported pig feed from around the world.”

For decades leading chefs have been insisting on only sourcing their pork from farms like these, where pigs are allowed to behave normally, rooting and grubbing in open fields, not crammed indoors in overcrowded steel pens, fed on genetically modified soya grown on destroyed Rainforest and routinely dosed with antibiotics. Now more and more people recognise that pork can be much better than the course, dried out, colourless product that reaches supermarkets from factory farms.

“These pigs in their lifespan have received absolutely no meds, no antibiotics, nothing at all. We feel that’s got to be the right thing. And I think that ultimately with all these farming systems, it’s reflected in the product at the end. We are really excited about that bit of pork in the pan, because we’re foodies at heart and this connection between what you’re eating and how its been produced I think is critical. You just feel so much happier eating that meat when you know exactly where it’s came from, exactly what it’s eaten and exactly what it’s been given.”

Added to this is the healthy Omega three to six ratio that is found in meat from animals that have been grazed on diverse pasture and not fed monoculture crops that are unnatural to their digestive system. Omega three helps prevent and alleviate dementia, depression, asthma, migraine, and diabetes, and helps reduce the risk and preventing heart disease and ischemic stroke

“We’ve got happy, healthy pigs that out foraging, they’re eating the pasture, and that is so reflected in the product. There’s no medicine, there’s no soya from the other side of the world. This is a lovely quality product that can then be sold to the local vicinity, and we think this has got to be a resilient, sustainable food for the future.”