Pork From Farm to Table - Canadian Food Focus

Welcome. In this course, you will learn how pork products get from the farm to your table. Check out the instructor guide in the material tab.

Start with the Pork on the Farm section and learn how farmers care for their pigs including where they live, what they eat and the standards that farmers must follow to keep their pigs healthy. Then follow pork from the farm to the store to find out about buying, handling and cooking pork in the Pork at the Grocery Store section. Finally in Pork in Your Kitchen section, learn how to cook with pork and learn why pork products are a healthy choice. Also included are recipe cook alongs with food professionals.

Course content & objectives

In this course, you will learn how pork products get from the farm to your table. There are three sections:

Pork on the Farm – Learn how farmers care for their pigs including where they live, what they eat and the standards that farmers must follow to keep their pigs healthy.

Pork at the Grocery Store – Follow pork from the farm to the store to find out about buying, handling and cooking pork section.

Pork in Your Kitchen – Learn how to cook with pork and learn why pork products are a healthy choice. Also included are recipe cook-along videos with food professionals.

Course Delivery

Using the content on the Canadian Food Focus website, the material can be shared with students through a variety of methods, including:

Lecture-style presentations by the instructor
Student group presentations on each of the topic areas in the course
Individual students selecting a specific topic to write about using information provided on the website and other resources
Self-guided study with students completing quizzes at the end of each topic
Team competitions at the end of each course to see which team gets the most quiz answers correct

Suggested Activities

Invite a pig farmer to come and talk with your class about raising pigs and how they take care of their animals. Topics could include animal welfare, pig nutrition, pig housing and what happens when pigs become sick.
Organize a field trip to a butcher shop to learn about the different cuts of pork. Consider: Are they loin cuts, leg cuts, shoulder cuts, belly cuts or speciality cuts? Which cuts are most appropriate for the different cooking methods, i.e., roasting, broiling, pan frying, stir-frying, grilling, braising or stewing?
Select one of the recipes in the “Learn to Cook” section and prepare as a group. Discuss the steps you took in working with pork to 1) choose a recipe and a cut of pork 2) keep the pork tender 3) enhance the flavour of the dish. Enjoy!