What's an Ossabaw, you ask?
Meet Spotty. Spotty is one of our most endeared Ossabaw sows; check out her adorable new litter here. And the Ossabaw Island Hogs happen to be superlatively famous and undeniably rare; Cane Creek Farm was among the first farms to start a domestic herd.
The Ossabaw Island hog is a breed poised to capture the imagination of an American foodie public currently fascinated with pork. Like any good food product, it has pedigreed European bloodlines, an intriguing back story involving the wilds of coastal Georgia, an entrepreneurial champion in farmer Eliza MacLean, health benefits attuned to current medical wisdom, and a taste that will knock your socks off. The Ossabaw Island hog tipping point can’t be far in the future!
When the Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto came to the American South in the 1539, he brought with him Spain’s prized Iberico hogs. The explorers let the hogs roam free to graze on acorns, and over time most died out or assimilated into barnyard breeds. The Ossabaw hogs get their name from Ossabaw Island, Georgia, where they remained genetically pure, isolated off the mainland. 500 years of harsh island living gave the Ossabaw a unique fat structure, still high in Omega-3’s like their Iberian ancestors, but contoured to a feast and famine diet and brackish waters. This hearty American breed offers chefs in this country a unique opportunity. Like old world vines in the Sonoma soil, we feel that the combination of tried and true genetics and American ingenuity will make Ossabaw products world renowned for flavor and inventiveness. That’s the potential food writer Peter Kaminsky saw in the hogs, leading him to promote awareness of ossabaw pork. Due to the culinary spotlight and increased interest in the ossabaw breed, mainland farmers (as well as researchers) started small domestic herds. This is a good thing for foodies and conservationists alike, since the ossabaws were threatened to near extinction when local authorities sought to eradicate the animals from the island because of the threat they posed to loggerhead turtles.
Now raised in North Carolina by Eliza MacLean, the Ossabaw Island hog and Eliza’s unique methods of production are becoming well known in the state and beyond. The animals are never given hormones or antibiotics, and all have free range to pasture and shelter as well as constant access to fresh water. All the hogs are fed soy, barley, and corn as well as everything from the garden clippings in spring, summer, and fall to pumpkins donated from a local church after Halloween and peanuts in the winter.
In a blind taste test conducted with the Ossabaw Island hog and other breeds, the Ossabaw rated highest for flavor and all that. It's not hard to sell the public on delicious fat, but throw in the added bonus that the meat may be high in Omega-3’s, the current nutritional media darling, and you’ve got a winning combo.
Click here to read the Ossabaw Island Hog bio on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy website.
