Posted on 06/21/2013 7:27:49 AM PDT by Renfield
he possibilities when it comes to marketing meat made from marijuana-fed animals are close to endless, but the man who came up with the idea has decided to simply call them “Pot Pigs.”
William von Scheneidau, owner and founder of BB Ranch in Seattle, didn’t come up with the idea to feed pigs and other animals weed while sitting around a bong in the basement with his buddies.
In fact, he doesn’t even smoke, he said.
Von Scheneidau said the notion came to him when he met the owners of a weed dispensary who told him that, ever since marijuana was legalized in Washington via popular vote last year, they've had extra stems, stalks, and leaves to get rid of.
He simply asked them if he could take what they were planning to throw out, as he once did with a farmer's rotting cantaloupes.
Von Scheneidau said he has always experimented with what he fed his animals and is even currently adding beer and vodka to their troughs.
The marijuana remnants are mostly fed to pigs, but because the farms von Scheneidau works with are free-range, other animals have access to the weed feed as well, giving a new meaning to the phrase “party animals.”....
Whenever von Scheneidau introduces a new substance to animals’ diets, he makes sure to have a control group of animals that eat normally from the same family.
He said that the pigs that are fed the marijuana just lie around and barely lift their heads.
“I name all my pigs,” said von Scheneidau “and Ted told Tim they shouldn’t tell me,” whether or not they’re high.
The pigs’ laziness might contribute to the fact that those who eat the weed gain weight 20 percent faster than those who don’t, as one would expect, even though von Scheneidau said the pot pigs don’t actually consume any extra food.
The weight gain contributes to the marbled, fattier texture of the pork that is eventually processed and made into bacon, prosciutto, sausage, pork chops and pulled pork.
Von Scheneidau says that beyond a difference in consistency, people have described the weed-infused meat as “more savory” in “blind bacon tests.”
"The flavor of the fat is extraordinary, [customers] love the marbling of the fat," said von Scheneidau.
And while customers haven’t reported getting high while eating or cooking the pork, von Scheneidau said BB Ranch sells out of the pot pig meat before batches are even processed.
He said the laws are a little complicated right now, but once the dispensaries are able to sell more marijuana, he’ll have more access to what the customers — and the pigs — want.
“My great uncle used to have a lot of volunteer hemp on his farm. He grew it during WWII for rope”
That can’t be true he must have been a dope dealer.
I know because I had a history professor one told me the Founding Fathers were dope dealers because they raised hemp.
I told her the hemp was for rope, mainly for sailing ships.
She told me she had been sailing and they didn’t use hemp ropes on sailing ships because it would rot. They used nylon on sailing ships.
You can’t argue with a genius.
The price of pot is entirely artificial due to prohibition. The market price for smoking hemp should be far less than basil because it is easier to grow and yields much more. The smoking portion is a very small percentage of the whole plant. Growing and feeding whole plants to the hogs would probably be cheaper than growing feed corn.
A single plant grown outdoors in a nice climate can yield several pounds of smokes every few months. They grow as big as orange trees. One such plant under prohibition will easily give the grower $20-30,000 each year
Gotta get me some of the meat and smoke it.
Ummm....those bacon drippings are priceless!!
I remember being a little kid in the 60s visiting my Grandpa in Iowa and him complaining about the long haired hippies from Iowa City coming around his place to pick the Iowana ditchweed that had been planted back in the war.
It took me another 10 years or so to find out/figure out what he was talking about.
Not being ruminants, swine don’t normally eat all that much forage. While this makes a great story, I’m just a little suspicious of its complete veracity.
Could have been.
One of the reasons I had a very short college career.
Just couldn’t see paying good money to idiots.
OMG! I was told that pork chops grew on trees and were harvested by hard working immigrants. And hams were the root bulbs of the pork chop trees. I'm shattered.
So... they’re easy to handle, docile, and tender...
Those that can not do, teach.
Those that can not teach, administrate.
Difference between hemp and marijuana.
You didn’t read the article, did you?
Advanced Soy bean farming today is very close to 100% mechanized. All the humans do is watch the monster machines and repair them. The combines drive themselves perfectly around the fields with GPS. Many parts used for the machines are actually made from processed soybeans.
It wont take long before the farms are 100% automated and powered by soybean oil (or solar). The machines will even repair themselves with on-site 3D printing and robotics. Nothing but Sunlight In and Food Out
My son in law is actually working on some of the new automated equipment at the John Deere plant in Moline
Right.
I am amused by those who think the growing of pot will be a quick way to get rich once it is legalized. In fact, of course, as you point out, it is only expensive because it is illegal.
Once legalized it will quickly drop in price to near other agricultural products.
There may be exceptions for “super-deluxe” brands, as for wine, cheese and other products. But the basic stuff will be cheap.
Of course the price will come down after legalization and some heavy smokers will grow their own. However I still think there is a very significant tax revenue to be made from casual smokers who will want perfect brand name MJ smokes.
Most pig farmers who raise pigs full-time have feed mills and grind their own concentrate feed (mostly corn + soy etc). It may be that he puts this stuff in his mill and mixes it with corn, soy, and other stuff.
By the way, pigs will graze alfalfa. Pigs will eat almost anything. I well remember walking into a pig barn in Denmark during a trip there. I saw a bit of movement at the edge of a sheet of plywood that was leaning up against the wall, and moved the top edge back to look behind it. There were about a half-dozen large rats hiding behind that sheet of plywood. When I moved the sheet they all went scurrying into the hog stanchions. The hogs got all excited and pounced on the rats just like cats or foxes would do...pinning them to the floor with their front hooves. The hogs then gulped down the rats as if they were twinkies.
Hogs love snakes (almost better than any other food) and will slurp them down in a heartbeat.
The money from tobacco goes to government, not the growers. Something similar may develop with legal MJ, but the growers won’t be getting rich.
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