PORKCAMP: FROM PIG, TO PORK, TO PLATE

I have twittered about it. I have put pictures up on Facebook and I have even written an article about the event for The Independent. So, just to finish things off and give the final word on the wonderful weekend that was PORKCAMP, here is a quick post about it on DH.

There is not much else to say, once yu have read the article other than it is invitations like this that confirm, if I still ever need confirmation, that my decision to base the second half of my life around the mantra “GO EVERYWHERE, EAT EVERYTHING” was entirely the correct one.

The invitation came from my new chum Florian back at the tail end of 2010 and there was not one chance that I was ever going to turn down an opportunity to spend time with fellow meat enthusiasts even if it did mean braving temperatures of -19o. There was the promise of good company and great food, the offer of a bed in a local apartment and, more importantly, the chance to experience at first hand the fact that for me to deal with my passion for flesh another of the Lord’s creatures had to give up its life.

I have no problem with that, it is the natural order of things, but I do believe that if we are going to eat animals the process from pig to pork to plate should be transparent and the end for the animals should be efficient and as stress free as possible. At Porkcamp, I saw how these things can be done well and the end result meant that what ended up on our plates tasted even better for knowing how it got there.

Most of all, however, Porkcamp was, as all things involving food should be, about community. What started out as a group of disparate individuals brought together from all over Germany by one man’s vision and the use of social networking, ended up as a close knit group of friends making solemn promises to stay in touch and create other events like this.

I am, as I say in the article, working on PORKCAMPUK, which if it is a tenth as remarkable as the original will be well worth attending. Watch this space.