National Pig Day

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National Pig Day is an event held annually on 17th of February in the United States to celebrate the pig. The holiday is most often celebrated in the Midwest of the US. It is not a federal holiday.

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The holiday celebration in the USA was started in 1972 by sisters Ellen Stanley, a teacher at All Saints Episcopal School in Lubbock, Texas, and Mary Lynne Rave of Beaufort, North Carolina. [1] [2] [3] According to Rave the purpose of the National Pig Day is "to accord the pig its rightful, though generally unrecognized, place" as one of the most intelligent domesticated animals. [2] The holiday is most often celebrated in the Midwest. [4]

National Pig Day includes events at zoos, schools, [5] nursing homes, and sporting events around the United States. It is also recognized at "pig parties" where pink pig punch and pork delicacies are served, and pink ribbon pigtails are tied around trees in the pigs' honor. [2] According to Chase's Calendar of Events, National Pig Day is on the same day as pseudo-holidays Share a Smile day and Peanut Butter Lover's day. [6] It is an open question whether the holiday is a time to honor pigs by "giving them a break" or to appreciate their offerings (spare ribs, bacon and ham). [7]

Events

In Lexington, Kentucky, a nursing home celebrated National Pig Day with a porcine parade that included a display of pig collectibles such as porcelain pigs, pig potholders, piggy banks, and pigs made from calico and cross-stitches, as well as a real-life Vietnamese potbellied pig named Stella who "hogged the day." [8]

In Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, National Pig Day has been celebrated (on the Saturday following March 1) since 2008 by the IronPigs minor-league baseball team at Coca-Cola Park, in conjunction with the first day of single-game ticket sales to the general public. The celebration was described as a "sporktacular" day in franchise history by the team's general manager Kurt Landes who said, "We look forward to doing our part in making National Pig Day an openly celebrated date in the Lehigh Valley!" [3] Highlights of the event also include a pig roast featuring complimentary food and beverages, self-guided tours of the ballpark, appearances by the IronPigs mascots FeRROUS and FeFe and the Pork Racers, and a variety of activities for children. [9]

In Illinois the celebration of the "often disrespected species" is done with "good reason": the pork industry contributes $1.9 billion to the state's economy. When National Pig Day coincided with the Year of the Pig in 2007, described as a porcine nexus, Illinoisans watched a 50 lb (23 kg) miniature pig named Pinto from the Yucatan display sporting abilities (guiding a ball into a soccer net and using his snout to push a basketball up a ramp into a hoop) at the Brookfield Zoo and many fans donned pig snouts and caps for the festivities and parade. [10]

A handbook for first year teachers includes National Pig Day as a seasonal activity and recommends cooking bacon, making BLTs, and discussing where pork chops come from. [11]

New York

At the Tisch Children's Zoo in New York's Central Park, National Pig Day is usually celebrated with the help of pot-bellied pigs. In 1998, two nine-month-old piglets named Thelma and Louise and their 185-pound companion named Speedy greeted visitors, while the children's zoo also held a "snort off" competition for children. [4] In 2009, the Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs at the zoo were named Oliver and Otis; they were reported to have "hammed it up and stole the show at the seventh annual National Pig Day celebration at the Children's Zoo," though, in general, reviews of the pigs were mixed. [12]

On Long Island a family gives their pot-bellied pig a special treat, refrains from eating pork and prepares a special National Pig Day meal. At the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank, the Cornell Cooperative Extension celebrated National Pig Day by sponsoring a pig program. Families visited farm pigs where "the piglet cuddled today will soon grow to 220 pounds and wind up in 'hog heaven.'" [13] The meat from the farm is fed to the inmates at the Suffolk County Jail, "so it was a strange day viewing pigs as if they were in a zoo, but knowing that their time was limited... except, of course, for the stud pigs, or boars, and their ladies-in-waiting, the sows." Big Bert was a 650-pound "hunka-hunka burning-love" at the farm. [13] Miss Piggy and Porky Pig were honored and porcine facts presented: the world's largest pig weighed 2,660 pounds, and pigs sailed with Christopher Columbus. [13] Attendees included the owner of Lil Pig Out, a company on the Island that makes pig-shaped candies. [13] "We've got Gummy Pigs and Good 'n Piggy," the owner said in between viewing pigs and handing out pink-colored pig pens. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Sus</i> (genus) Genus of even-toed ungulates

Sus is the genus of wild and domestic pigs, within the even-toed ungulate family Suidae. Sus include domestic pigs and their ancestor, the common Eurasian wild boar, along with other species. Sus species, like all suids, are native to the Eurasian and African continents, ranging from Europe to the Pacific islands. Suids other than the pig are the babirusa of Indonesia, the pygmy hog of South Asia, the warthogs of Africa, and other pig genera from Africa. The suids are a sister clade to peccaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacon</span> Type of salt-cured pork

Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish, used as a central ingredient, or as a flavouring or accent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intensive pig farming</span> Method of animal husbandry

Intensive pig farming, also known as pig factory farming, is the primary method of pig production, in which grower pigs are housed indoors in group-housing or straw-lined sheds, whilst pregnant sows are housed in gestation crates or pens and give birth in farrowing crates.

<i>Samgyeopsal</i> Korean grilled pork belly dish

Samgyeopsal, samgyeopsal-gui, or grilled pork belly is a type of gui in Korean cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pork belly</span> Boneless and fatty cut of meat from the belly of a pig

Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless and fatty cut of meat from the belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in Filipino, Hispanic, Chinese, Danish, Norwegian, Korean, Polish and Thai cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pork chop</span> Type of meat cut

A pork chop, like other meat chops, is a loin cut taken perpendicular to the spine of the pig and is usually a rib or part of a vertebra. Pork chops are unprocessed and leaner than other cuts. Chops are commonly served as an individual portion, and can be accompanied with applesauce, vegetables, and other sides. Pork is one of the most commonly consumed meats in the world. In the United States, pork chops are the most commonly consumed meat cut from the pork loin and account for 10% of total pork consumption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pig</span> Domesticated omnivorous even-toed ungulate

The pig, often called swine, hog, or domesticpig when distinguishing from other members of the genus Sus, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of Sus scrofa or a distinct species. Pigs were domesticated in the Neolithic, both in East Asia and in the Near East. When these arrived in Europe, they extensively interbred with wild boar but retained their domesticated features.

Smithfield Foods, Inc., is a pork producer and food-processing company based in Smithfield, Virginia. It operates as an independent subsidiary of the Chinese-owned conglomerate WH Group. Founded in 1936 as the Smithfield Packing Company by Joseph W. Luter and his son, the company is the largest pig and pork producer in the world. In addition to owning over 500 farms in the US, Smithfield contracts with another 2,000 independent farms around the country to raise Smithfield's pigs. Outside the US, the company has facilities in Mexico, Poland, Romania, Germany, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. Globally the company employed 50,200 in 2016 and reported an annual revenue of $14 billion. Its 973,000-square-foot meat-processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, was said in 2000 to be the world's largest, slaughtering 32,000 pigs a day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pigs in culture</span> Depictions of pigs in culture

Pigs, widespread in PIGS ARE Beautiful Creatures WHO DATE peppa pig and George pig who are their 2nd cousins so it's ok.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pig farming</span> Raising and breeding of domestic pigs

Pig farming or pork farming or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food and skins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pig slaughter</span> Pigs slaughtering process

Pig slaughter is the work of slaughtering domestic pigs to obtain pig meat (pork). It regularly happens as part of traditional and intensive pig farming. which is both a common economic activity as well as a traditional feast in some European and Asian countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pork</span> Meat from a pig

Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig. It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE.

In reaction to the 2009 flu pandemic, governments around the world have responded with sometimes extreme reactions against pigs, which has included the official extermination of all domestic pigs in Egypt and the culling of three wild boars at the Baghdad Zoo in Iraq. Many of these slaughters occurred in Muslim countries, and religious restrictions on the consumption of pork have been cited as influencing the decision to take such action. Many other countries have banned international trade in pigs and pork products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miniature pig</span> Small breeds of pig

Miniature Pigs, also called mini pig, or Pygmy pig, or teacup pig, are small breeds of domestic pig. There are two types of mini pig: small traditional pig breed like the Vietnamese Pot-Bellied pig, the Choctaw hog and even smaller newer breeds like Göttingen minipig and Juliana pig.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cut of pork</span> Piece of pig meat consumed as food by humans

The cuts of pork are the different parts of the pig which are consumed as food by humans. The terminology and extent of each cut varies from country to country. There are between four and six primal cuts, which are the large parts in which the pig is first cut: the shoulder, loin, belly and leg. These are often sold wholesale, as are other parts of the pig with less meat, such as the head, feet and tail. Retail cuts are the specific cuts which are used to obtain different kinds of meat, such as tenderloin and ham. There are at least 25 Iberian pork cuts, including jamón.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ossabaw Island Hog</span> Breed of swine

The Ossabaw Island Hog or Ossabaw Island is a breed of pig derived from a population of feral pigs on Ossabaw Island, Georgia, United States. The original Ossabaw hogs are descended from swine released on the island in the 16th century by Spanish explorers. A breeding population has been established on American farms off the island, but they remain a critically endangered variety of pig.

<i>Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus</i> Species of virus

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus is a coronavirus that infects the cells lining the small intestine of a pig, causing porcine epidemic diarrhoea, a condition of severe diarrhea and dehydration. Older hogs mostly get sick and lose weight after being infected, whereas newborn piglets usually die within five days of contracting the virus. PEDV cannot be transmitted to humans, nor contaminate the human food supply.

References

  1. ↑ Sarah Casey Newman Pig Day Hogs Spotlight February 26, 2000 page 43 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  2. 1 2 3 A Pig-Out for porkers February 23, 1980 Associated Press story reported in Virgin Islands Daily News
  3. 1 2 "Single-Game Tickets on Sale March 1". Our Sports Central. February 18, 2008. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  4. 1 2 Graeber, Laurel (February 27, 1998). "Family Fare: 3 Pigs, Not All Little". The New York Times . Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  5. ↑ Flick, David (February 28, 1998). "A Pig Day at School: Kids Learn All Sorts of Things; Some They May Want to Forget". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  6. ↑ Jim Slotek March may come in like a lion or a lamb, but it goes out like a teenager abducted by extraterrestrials goofing off Archived June 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine March 1, 2009 Toronto Sun
  7. ↑ "But what about National Pig Day? Is it time to celebrate what the pig offers by downing spare ribs, bacon, and ham? Or is it time to give the little guys a break – to step back and just appreciate all they offer us?" Stuttley, Henry Go hog wild National Pig Day is Wednesday. How will you be celebrating? February 28, 2006 Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois)
  8. ↑ "Hamming It Up: Pigs Hog Spotlight at Nursing Center". Lexington Herald-Leader . Jake Bowers. March 2, 1991. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  9. ↑ "National Pig Day; Single-Game Tix on Sale 3/2". MiLB.com. Minor League Baseball. February 11, 2013. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  10. ↑ Pyke, Marni (March 2, 2007). "Swine get a day to pig out Hogs take a poke at stereotypes at Brookfield Zoo pig day celebration". Daily Herald (Arlington Heights) . Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  11. ↑ Memory Long Schorr, Linda Martin A Handbook for First Year Teachers: Ready, Set, Go! Archived February 28, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Libraries Unlimited, 1995 ISBN   978-1-56308-170-5. 169 pages, page 132
  12. ↑ Molnar, Phillip (March 1, 2009). "Central Park Zoo goes hog-wild for squeal good time on National Pig Day". New York Daily News . Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Ketcham, Diane (March 8, 1992). "Long Island Journal: No Ribs to Spare". The New York Times . Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
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