Our family has a pıg share

Jenny White is a food writer and stylist from Surrey. She rears pigs for meat with her husband and a group of friends

Twice a year we buy six pigs with friends and raise them for pork, sausages and bacon. We started in 2012 when our neighbours, Helen and Jeremy, asked us to join them – they had land behind their house. Two more couples joined after.

The first piglets we had were Large Blacks. We buy rare breeds to help keep the breed going. So far we’ve had Middle Whites, Tamworths, Gloucester Old Spots and British Lops. Now we have Berkshires and Mangalitsas, which have woolly coats. They use Mangalitsas at Pitt Cue restaurant in London – they’re quite fatty and good for eating.

We send two pigs at a time for slaughter. Each family gets half a pig back. We work with a wonderful butcher, Richard, at Green Farm Barn Butchery in Sussex. We give him a list of cuts. He also makes sausages and has his own smoker for bacon. I’ve calculated that we save about £200 compared to buying the same amount of quality, rare-breed pork from a butcher.

We use every bit of the pig so nothing goes to waste. My husband Colin has made faggots and also brawn – using pig’s head and trotters. It’s pushed us to try more unusual cuts. The flavour of the bacon is stronger, especially from the Tamworths. It’s proper thick, old-fashioned bacon.

Our ‘pig club’ has helped to forge stronger friendships. We have club nights when we bring di erent pork dishes. It’s great for our kids to understand where their food comes from too. Our son Tom has grown up with the idea that the pigs are for meat, so we never name them.

How it works ‘Helen does an online rota every week. The pigs are fed in the morning and afternoon. Everyone puts in the work and gets their fair share back.’ Is it right for you? ‘It is a big commitment. Trying to keep the pigs dry during wet winters can be especially di icult. There’s a lot of paperwork if you want to take pigs to abattoir; it’s a learning process.’ Find out more Read Get Started in

Pig Keeping by Tony York (£12.99, Teach Yourself).