Meat: Rural Pork and Urban Beef

Pork was America’s favorite and most widely consumed meat from the time of European settlement well into the twentieth century. Pigs were well suited to farming families who lived near woodlands or who grew corn (or both). Pigs required little management and fattened easily on the leftovers of human consumption and the leavings of the annual harvest. They were easier for farmers to handle than cattle because their relatively small size simplified killing and curing. Their flesh could be preserved through materials that were easy to obtain and use—salt, sugar, and smoke—and thus pork could be stored for later consumption in an era without home refrigeration. Processing hogs fit into the family division of labor, with men performing the killing and cutting operations outside and women and children handling the meat that needed more detailed care to be turned into a usable product.