We’ve always been a high-fat and red meat kind of family but a few summers in Italy and a spring working in Quebec exposed us to some of the best cured meats in the world. The Old-World methods of curing meat are also safe but go lighter on some of the preservatives than the FDA allows. It can be difficult to impossible to even purchase these cured meats in the US but no one will stop you from making them at home and consuming them yourself!

Future posts detail how to produce world-class cured meats at home as well as how raising the animals yourself fills other niches in the permaculture web surrounding your home. It’s difficult to run a homestead properly without pigs, “The gentleman that pays the rent,” as the Irish say.