You should be able get recommendations from a local butcher, farmers’ market, nearby slaughterhouse, your county’s Farm Bureau chapter, or the University Cooperative Extension. You can also ask chefs that serve local meat, 4H or FFA clubs, or a hunting club. Once you find a farmer who can sell you a whole animal, make sure it is an animal you want. Breed, feed, and quality of life are the most important things. Ask your farmer what breeds they choose and why. Most farmers crossbreed to get the right combination of qualities for their farm. When it comes to breed choice, for me it is more a matter of education than preference.
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Good fat sets great pigs apart from the rest of the herd. While breed has say-so on this, feed also has an “opinion.” Acorns and peanuts are classic fatteners, but pig farmers are ingenious at using the nutritious detritus available from brewers, dairymen, and bakers—almost as clever as are the pigs themselves at rooting about for nutrition, if given the opportunity. I prefer lamb, goat, and beef to be solely fed on grass, but some ranchers finish with grain: you have to decide what suits you. Antibiotics or hormones are the top concerns, the banning of which forms the cornerstone of organic certification. Ask about the beast’s life. A good farmer will usually enjoy telling you about it. Were the lambs tail-docked (a controversial procedure done to prevent an infestation called myiasis)? Were the sows put in farrowing crates, which prevent them from crushing the piglets but are considered inhumane by many? Let your farmer or butcher know you are interested; nothing could please them more.
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