Pure Country Pork: Farm to Fork Partner and Role Model for the Industry

Written by Claire Cummings on January 9, 2013in Farms, Local food, Meat - 0 Comments

In the middle of December, during one of the coldest weeks of the year, I found myself driving out of the Portland cityscape to the beautiful Washington countryside near Ephrata to meet some pigs.

Sows in the hoop house with their piglets hiding from the camera in the A-frame cottages.

Yes you read that correctly…pigs. I knew I had to visit Pure Country Pork after learning it was the first sustainable hog operation in the United States to be certified by Food Alliance (which evaluates how a farm treats its animals as well as its workers and the environment), under its stricter guidelines of no farrowing crates or gestation stalls. Plus, since Bon Appétit committed last year to phasing out all pork raised using gestation crates by 2015, I knew I needed to talk to some experts to better understand the significance of this commitment.

Who better than Paul, Karrie, and Paul Klingeman Jr., Pure Country’s owners and managers? Continue…

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