Farmers Going Hog Wild For ‘Local’ Trend In Pork Industry

“What goes around, comes around” is a much-used saying that has been around forever. In simple terms, it probably means that we see something rather simple that goes through a cycle and eventually returns to its original status.

Take eating as an example. A hundred years ago most everyone ate fresh food purchased at local markets or raised on their own farms or gardens. Then came railroads, trucks and refrigeration, and our vegetables, fruits and meats were hauled overnight across the country or frozen for later use.

Milwaukee became the center of meat processing with the advent of Cudahy, Swift, Armour and Wilson (the big four), which competed for livestock on Wisconsin farms. Other companies like Oscar Mayer, Usinger, Layton, Jones and Peck were also household names to livestock producers. And the countryside was dotted with dairy plants offering bottled milk and cheeses of a hundred kinds.

Human ingenuity moved at a rapid pace after World War II when refrigerators and microwaves replaced the locker plant and pressure cooker. Ray Kroc guessed that the growing population was ready for cheap hamburgers and french fries, and his McDonald’s grew into the many thousands, and fast food was off and running.

To read the rest of this story please go to: The Capital Times