PRAISETHELARD

An interview with certied organic pork producer Doug Stonebreakerby Bay-Area locavore chef James Stolich

Here in Northern California we have a plethora of small farms doing amazing stu, all organic, free-range, and devoid of antibiotics. One of my favorite farms is Prather Ranch. While they producemostly beef, Prather retail shop owner Doug Stonebreaker recently started a herd of pigs under theRange Brothers label, and they are absolutely fantastic.I caught up with Doug at his retail shop at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco to ask him what makes his pork so special. Doug looks like a real cowboy and is wearing a shirt bearing the words“PRAISE THE LARD.”I also am sharing my recipe for Doug’s pork shoulder chop.Enjoy, James Stolich www.CookWithJames.com

If you are living in the United Statesand into food and sourcing your ownlocal ingredients, there has neverbeen a better time.All over the country farmer's marketsare popping up and more people haveaccess to small, local producers andpurveyors.

James: Where is Range Brothers?

Doug: Range Brothers is in NorthernCalifornia in the Capay Valley. ChrisSimas and his brother Mark Kellerown the ranch, and I lease out someof their land for my herd of pigs.

How many pigs do you have?

We probably have about 40 sows and4 boars, give or take.

How often do you slaughter pigs?

We slaughter pigs every other week and we do about 7-10 total, so it’s arelatively small production.

What kind of pigs do you have? Can you describe the breed?

Well we have mostly Berkshire anda few Berkshire cross. We startedthe program by bringing in mainly pure-bred Berkshire stock from Mark Newman in the mid-west (Missouri).He does a lot of the heritage stu. We’ve had some Gloucester OldSpots & Large Blacks, but mostly we work with Berkshire.

And what does heritage mean?

Well heritage breeds are essentially old breeds. ey are dierentvarieties of old breeds which havenot been genetically modied andmonocropped, which you nd withmany of the modern pork industry pigs. For example, double-breasted white chickens and turkeys have allbeen mono-cropped to produce both whiter and larger breast meat.

So Berkshire is a heritage pig?

at’s right.

And how do you care for these pigs? What’s going on with them? What do you feed them? Are they totally free-range and outside?

Yes, they are on pasture and are freeto roam. We do have a barn wherethe pigs can go into the shade. ereare misters there for the summer as itcan grow quite warm. ere’s straw there. We don’t ever use farrowingcrates. e pigs are raised underthe certied humane program, so we get audited every year by theCertied Humane Organization( www.CertiedHumane.org) andare third-party-inspected. e pigsare fed a ration of various grains andnutrients. en they are also supple-mented with organic produce fromthe area ... anything from butternutsquash to pumpkin to whateverhappens to be seasonal and local.