pigletter #2
a country called chimerica
pig lives in a country called chimerica.
chimerica is a hybrid, or chimera, much like pig. formed officially in the 1970’s from tendrils that that extend into the mists of time.
there was an age when pig and man and lands lived together eating of each other inseparably in various ways.
not so with today’s industrial pig. today there is more pig than ever existing in a way that has never been more…punctuated. industrial pig mothers live in sequestered air conditioned rooms, industrial pig fathers mostly exist frozen in little tubes, and industrial pig children live only half a year before slaughter.
industrial pig lives and dies mostly in china according to methods and buildings developed in the US, subject to constant surveillance and optimization of “productivity.”
industrial pig’s genes are mostly chinese but have been repeatedly given the names of anglo-american bloodlines. 1
today industrial pig eats protein mix made from soybeans, originally from china, today grown mostly in (north & south) america, and shipped mostly to china. for pig.2
whether determined by location, ancestry, or feed, industrial pig lives in a trans-pacific place.
pig calls this place chimerica.
maybe you live in chimerica too.
if you’re reading this, you probably do.
(o o)
basically every industrial pig is some combination of duroc, landrace, and yorkshire breeds, all of which were stabilized into purebreds in the US and UK, reliant on repeated infusions of Chinese pigs (sam white, 2011)
brazil, argentina, and the US produce more than 80% of global soybean production (USDA). 60% of global soybean exports go to China, 80% of which go into feeding pigs (S&P Global).