The Secret Ingredient Falling from the Trees
Our pigs root and wallow through the shaded forests, foraging on fatty acorns, walnuts, wild fruits, and bramble.
If you've ever wondered why our pork tastes different, the answer is literally raining down from the trees right now.
It's that magical time in the Ozarks when the oaks start dropping their acorns like nature's got a generous streak. If you've been with us a while, you know this is one of my favorite times to talk about forested pork because fall in the forest is when pigs are living their absolute best lives.
Here's what happens in the woods during acorn season: pigs do what they've evolved to do for thousands of years. They use their incredibly sensitive snouts to hunt for acorns buried under leaves, cracking them open with powerful jaws, and converting that forest bounty into some of the most flavorful pork you'll ever taste.
That diverse forest diet does something remarkable at the cellular level. When pigs eat acorns, they're consuming high levels of oleic acid (the same heart-healthy fat found in olive oil). This gets incorporated directly into their muscle tissue and fat, creating meat with a richer, more complex flavor profile and a completely different nutritional makeup than pork from pigs fed only corn and soy.
Recent research backs this up.Studies comparing acorn-fed pigs to those on standard diets show measurably higher levels of monounsaturated fats and natural antioxidants, including vitamin E. In other words, that nutty, melt-in-your-mouth flavor you taste isn't just delicious, it's nutritionally superior too.
We tested our pork regularly, and the numbers tell a clear story:
- 481mg of omega-3s per 100g in our pork chops
- 650mg per 100g in our ground pork
- 10 times more beneficial fats than you'll find in grocery store pork
This enriched forest-foraged diet results in higher Omega-3s and pork with remarkable depth of flavor across all our cuts.
Walk into any conventional pork facility and you won't see a single acorn. No forest floor. No seasonal rhythms. Just concrete, metal, and monotonous feed rations designed purely for rapid growth.
Of all pigs raised in the US, 97% will never experience will never feel fall arrive. Never follow their instincts to forage. Never taste the diversity that creates truly exceptional meat.
The pigs raised by our co-op farmers spend their lives outdoors, living in sync with these Ozark seasons, doing exactly what their biology tells them to do.
As I work through this carnivore experiment, one thing has become clear: when you're being intentional about what you eat (for health, performance, or just feeling better) quality stops being a nice-to-have. I know most people aren't eating only meat. But whether you eat pork once a week or every day, when animal products are part of your diet, their quality is one of the most important food decisions you make.
Every fall, I get more convinced that the way we've industrialized pork production has stripped away something essential. Not just for the animals, but for the people eating that meat.
When you cook our forested pork, you're tasting the result of that diverse, natural diet. You're getting nutrition that reflects a diverse, natural diet. And you're supporting a model that keeps these working forests healthy and productive.
This isn't nostalgia. It's better farming. Better nutrition. Better taste.
Your farmer (watching the acorns fall),
Cody