When it comes to pork, we know which side of the fence we stand on. That
would be the pasture side, where the grass is green and pigs do everything
but fly. Here, pigs plow up the soil with a snout specially designed for sniffing
out roots, bulbs, insects, earthworms, and even small mammals. (Don’t forget, swine are
omnivores, too.)
On the opposite side of our proverbial fence is the National Pork Board, “The Other
White Meat” people. Huge covered barns stink up their side, and there’s not a blade of
grass in sight. Here, nursing sows are confined to steel-barred pens too small for them to
turn over in, and instead of hogs rolling in a muddy pasture, they stand crowded together
on a slatted floor through which their waste falls into a vast noxious pit.
We’re proud to help Bay Area pastured
pork producers promote their products in
Edible San Francisco, and you’ll never see an
advertisement for The Other White Meat
here.
You will, however, find one on page 67 of
the June 2008 issue of Gourmet magazine.
I’d like to think this drives Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichl crazy. That despite her
showcasing sustainable farmers, ranchers,
and fishermen in Gourmet, the publishing
side (advertising sales and marketing) still manages to pollute those pages with an ad from
a business the editorial side would never, ever endorse. Think about it. Would Gourmet
run an article extolling the virtues of confined animal feeding operations and the meat
they produce? I don’t think so.
Now it’s mighty presumptuous of me to guess what Reichl thinks. Maybe she’s just
fine with pork from factory farms, and maybe she’s just fine with a full-page ad from the
National Pork Board, too.
But as you can probably tell, it really bugs me.
Gourmet has a paid monthly circulation of 957,136 and an “audience” (publishing speak
for how many people eventually read the magazine) of 5.4 million per year (click here for more info). That’s vastly
more than we reach with our little regional magazine, which has a yearly circulation of
120,000 and an audience of about 300,000. When an ad promoting the National Pork
Board gets that kind of exposure in an esteemed magazine like Gourmet, it carries a lot of
weight and influence. Hence, this little rant.
I’ve made it our mission to support local farmers, ranchers, fishermen, artisans and
chefs by telling their stories. We also accept their advertising dollars, without which we
would no longer be in the business of storytelling.
So I’d like to end my pig-tailed rant with a gentle plea to support the businesses whose
ads you’ll find in this issue. They are all on our side of the fence.
Bruce Cole is the publisher and editor of Edible San Francisco.
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