Helping farmer feed rare pigs

Mark de Martines, Perth Pork Products, is pasture-raising Tamworth pigs, a rare heritage breed known traditionally as a bacon pig because of the excellent flavour of its smoked meat.

The de Martines Tamworth pigs have a unique diet, thanks to Stratford restaurants, Community Living Stratford and Area, Canadian Tire and the Stratford Tourism Alliance.

Stratford Tourism has recruited over 10 Stratford restaurants to take part in the composting program, which asks their kitchen staff to save all vegetable and fruit waste. The compost is picked up from restaurants and taken to the farm on a bi-weekly basis by volunteers from Community Living.

The Tamworth pig was almost extinct in Canada before the de Martines family bought a herd a few years ago. Fred often comments about his son, Mark’s desire to raise the pigs the “good old-fashioned way”, in pastures on the farm, free to run between the barn and the field. The

Tamworth breed is traditionally a British forest pig that grazes, which gives its meat a distinct flavour.

The program is already a success, states a press release. Neil Baxter and the Stratford Chefs School, as well as Paul Finkelstein and The Screaming Avocado have been collecting their vegetable compost for the Tamworths for some time. Mark was eager to expand the program and get more restaurants involved. A similar program exists at Monforte Dairy; the whey from cheese making feeds a local farmer’s pigs in the Millbank area.
The composting program may even create a special pork product, which will be unique to Perth County. The taste and flavour of the heritage pork may be altered by being fed or finished on fruit and vegetables. The program benefits both the farmer and the chef. The farmer has help with feed, important since the Tamworths take 50 per cent longer than commercial pigs to grow to market weight. And the restaurants have less garbage to dispose of.
The de Martines family is no stranger to chefs and restaurants. The farm has been supplying Perth County Berkshire and Wild Boar to Stratford restaurants, as well as some of Toronto’s top chefs, for over 25 years.
Participating Restaurants to date:  Boar’s Head Pub, Down the Street Bar & Restaurant, Foster’s Inn, Ken’s Fries, Rundles and the Stratford Chefs School, Sirkel Foods, The Annex Room Restaurant, The County Food Co., The Screaming Avocado and The Sun Room.