Pig Meat Hits Eight Year Low And Pig Farmers Are Sad

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Scottish pig farmers are worried about their future, something that pigs would surely have a good laugh at.

The price of pig meat has hit an eight-year low, with producers losing about 10£ for every pig that’s sold, claims NFU Scotland. In a last desperate attempt to hold on, farming leaders are planning to hassle retailers to discuss the promotion of Scottish pork over their cheaper rivals.

At its peak, pig farmer Robin Traquair said he received £120 for each pig he produced (that’s a nice word for killed). Now he sells them for only about £85. Isn’t it a shame when commodifying animals doesn’t pay out higher? He says their choice is to either “pack in or knuckle down.” I would prefer the former to the latter. Do the pigs get a vote?

“Production simply cannot be sustainable at these prices,” Kevin Gilbert, NFU Scotland’s pigs committee chairman told BBC. “It is clear that a lot of cheaper European meat is being substituted for UK product, especially in processed meat products.” His solution is to beg UK meat eaters to support more homegrown cruelty.

I still can’t wrap my head around assigning prices to lives this way. Here’s hoping the continually growing rates of veganism can be the straw to break the camel’s back here, and we can become one step closer to a world without animal use.