Pigs

Q. In Spain, tourists get to savor delicious Serrano ham practically anywhere but are cautioned that our Department of Agriculture minions will seize the product if we attempt to bring it into this country. Is this true? Why? William M. Young, Richmond A. Your passion for this long-cured Spanish delicacy is to be commended, but is that any reason to dis an entire federal agency? And before you answer, consider this: The only thing keeping out all those mad cows and foot-and-mouth types who lurk among the pigs you love are customs agents and...

Getting attention in an off-year election for a down-ballot office can be hard enough, and it's even trickier where there are seven candidates in the field. So with six weeks to go until Virginia Republicans gather to pick their nominee for lieutenant governor, Pete Snyder is hoping to snag support at the state GOP convention with a few unconventional tricks. Snyder, a Northern Virginia technology entrepreneur, is launching what he calls his "Ironclad Conservative" tour of the state, starting Wednesday in...

FRIDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they have developed a model for cystic fibrosis (CF) in piglets that may help improve understanding of the disease in human infants and help in the discovery of new treatments. The finding, by researchers at the University of Iowa and the University of Missouri, was published in the Sept. 26 issue ofScience. Cystic fibrosis, a common hereditary disease, affects multiple organ systems, including the intestines, pancreas and lungs.

BEIJING — Pig carcasses — about 14,000 of them — have been floating down rivers that feed into Shanghai for nearly two weeks. The city's residents have been told not to worry, and not much else. Where the pigs came from, how they died and why they suddenly showed up in the river system that supplies drinking water to a city of 23 million has not been explained. Officials have told residents that their drinking water is safe and have censored microblog posts suggesting that the public organize peaceful protests.

OTTAWA, May 2 -- Pigs on a farm in the Canadian province of Alberta have been infected with the new swine flu virus -- apparently by a farm worker who recently visited Mexico -- and are under quarantine, officials said Saturday. It is the first known case of pigs having the virus. Officials urged caution. Swine flu regularly causes outbreaks in pigs, and the pigs do not pose a food-safety risk, Brian Evans, executive vice president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said at a news conference.

BEIJING — Pig carcasses — about 14,000 of them — have been floating down rivers that feed into Shanghai for nearly two weeks. The city's residents have been told not to worry, and not much else. Where the pigs came from, how they died and why they suddenly showed up in the river system that supplies drinking water to a city of 23 million has not been explained. Officials have told residents that their drinking water is safe and have censored microblog posts suggesting that the public organize peaceful protests.

On the sidewalk in front of Don Beyer Volvo on West Broad Street in Falls Church are statues of pigs with a man feeding them. I once walked up to them to see if there was some sort of plaque that would explain it all, but no such luck. What's the story behind these statues? — Glenn Anton, Arlington The official title of the work is the straightforwardly descriptive "The Man Slopping Pigs. " It was created by artist Richard Beyer , brother of Don Beyer Sr ., who...

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said bovine carcasses were floating past Shanghai. The story has been corrected. BEIJING — The dead pigs keep bobbing up in Shanghai's rivers. When hundreds of porcine bodies started surfacing this weekend in rivers upstream from the city, it prompted only mild shock, showing perhaps how routine safety scares about food and water have become in China. But worries turned to panic late Tuesday, when authorities revealed that the...

Editor's note: This is t he first of a three-part series that over the next five months will chronicle the author's effort to understand our relationship to the animals we eat. It will be at times unflinchin g, yet enlightening. Four years ago, when my husband and I began trying to hunt, gather and grow as much of our own food as possible, we instituted a barnyard rule of one new species per year. Year one, naturally, was chickens — everyone's introductory livestock.

This afternoon, the marchioness is dressed in a woolly sweater and an embroidered fleece coat. She is a Sherpa-chic sort of marchioness, a slender sliver of a marchioness with curly hair and a low sigh of a voice, which she is now using to discuss pig poop. "In the pig industry," sighs the marchioness, "you've got tons of pigs in the shed, defecating, and it's running into the water — the stench that comes out of this biodegrading feces is just unbelievable — " Enter...

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said bovine carcasses were floating past Shanghai. The story has been corrected. BEIJING — The dead pigs keep bobbing up in Shanghai's rivers. When hundreds of porcine bodies started surfacing this weekend in rivers upstream from the city, it prompted only mild shock, showing perhaps how routine safety scares about food and water have become in China. But worries turned to panic late Tuesday, when authorities revealed that the number of pigs...

Before you even begin butchering your first pig's head, you need to confront some primal aversion to dissecting a mammal cranium, especially one that may come with a peaceful smile. My advice? Use the opportunity to say a short grace over your animal head and embrace your carnivorous habit that's often allowed to skate on anonymous little packages of meat. Adam Brick, the sous-chef at Graffiato who comes from a family of butchers, guided my hand via phone. The first thing he suggested was to place my pig's head on a cutting...

Editor's note: This is the last of a three-part series that chronicles the author's effort to understand our relationship to the animals we eat. The death we want for our animals is the one we want for ourselves: painless, instant, on a day like any other. Our three pigs took seven months to reach slaughter weight , and my husband, Kevin, and I had been thinking about that slaughter for the duration. Painless. Instant. On a day like any other. We had two choices.

When the weather gets dreary, a holiday party is an inviting alternative — unless you're trying to stick to a healthful diet. In that case, the indoors can be pretty scary, too. Because no matter how small those tasty holiday hors d'oeuvres are, they are packed with calories. And what about that holiday party staple, eggnog? A cup of this creamy, sweet and spicy goodness is about 350 calories before you even add alcohol. It's about 450 calories with a shot of rum. "It's quite ridiculous," says Jared Rice, a...

DEAR AMY: My close friend from childhood recently bought two guinea pigs for her children. The kids enjoy them but seem a little afraid of them. Now the parents have decided that the guinea pigs smell bad and have relegated them to the porch, which is not heated. I volunteer in an animal shelter and consider myself a champion of animal causes, but I'm stumbling over what to do with this one. Guinea pigs come from a warm climate and should not be out in the cold (last week it got into the low 40s)

Picture yourself on a walk through Rock Creek Park. Whitetailed deer pick their way through the trees, eyeing you warily. Perhaps you hear the yip of a distant coyote . Then a strange grunting sound erupts from the underbrush and half a dozen wild pigs charge onto the path in front of you. This scenario isn't as far-fetched as it may sound. Wild pigs — not the cute kind you see at the petting zoo but the ones with black bristly coats, narrow snouts and long, self-sharpening tusks — have quietly...

To understand why garbage is piling up on Cairo's streets, it helps to pay a visit to Atel Shenouda's clandestine pigpen. Ensconced on the rooftop of his five-story apartment building in the predominantly Christian Zaraib district of Cairo, the 43-year-old trash collector's hogs rummage through a smattering of discarded vegetables and other organic waste. Pigs used to play a central role in this city's rudimentary waste management system. But since a 2009 health code outlawed the practice of owning pigs that feed on garbage, just a...

When it comes to the prized bellota ham from Spain , it is easy to understand why everyone talks about the nuts. As you approach Huelva, the Andalusian province most famous for those air-cured hams, the citrus groves of the semi-arid flatlands around Seville give way to oak-covered hills and mountains. Acorns, a staple in the menu of the local pigs, are said to be the secret behind the ham from the Iberian black-footed pigs, or pata negra, which many consider the best ham in the world.

Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part series that chronicles the author's effort to understand our relationship to the animals we eat. I used to think there was a bright line between pets and livestock, but I don't anymore. Sure, there are animals that are clearly one or the other. If the American Kennel Club has a standard for it, it's definitely a pet. Anything with "broiler" in its breed name? Livestock. But when you're spending time with an animal, it doesn't really matter whether it's got a "P" or an "L" on its...

You have to follow closely in Pig Iron Theatre Company's " Zero Cost House ," a collaboration between the Philadelphia-based experimentalists and Japanese writer Toshiki Okada that was on display Friday and Saturday at Georgetown University's Davis Performing Arts Center. The troupe explains certain things in deadpan direct address, but it also features actors taking turns playing Okada. The unorthodox venture, now touring, is billed as Okada's autobiography, yet it has a lot to do with Henry David...