By Julie Murphree
Pork’s place on the plate is bigger than most people realize. It is one of the world’s most widely eaten meats—long accounting for roughly a third of global meat consumption and remaining neck-and-neck with poultry in total volume—yet two major religions forbid it entirely. That contrast makes the story more interesting, not less. Flavor, versatility, and the sheer scale of demand in places that do eat pork have kept it at the center of diets from Chinese dumpling shops to American backyard grills.
The National Pork Board’s “Taste What Pork Can Do” campaign, launched in May 2025, is built around exactly that idea: pork is not the “other” white meat or a special-occasion protein. It is a bold, adaptable everyday flavor that younger eaters already crave in bacon, sausage, and global dishes.
On a recent Rosie on the House show, our guest was Vicki Trump, owner of Arizona Berkshires, a show pig operation serving youth in 4-H and FFA. The full episode is at the bottom of this article.
Arizona Pork Production
Arizona’s contribution is smaller than the big Midwestern production states, but it is real and measurable.
Arizona has one major commercial pork farm, Yosemite Foods, several direct-market operations, and several smaller farms that raise pigs for 4-H and FFA youth. According to USDA figures cited in industry analysis, the state’s pork sector generates gross cash receipts that can range from about $45 million to $65 million. An industry report from the National Pork Producers Council estimates that roughly 600 jobs are tied to the Arizona pork value chain—input suppliers, producers, processors, handlers, and the main-street businesses that benefit when those workers spend money locally. The same analysis, based on 2023 production levels, found that the industry supports an estimated $46.84 million in personal income and $79.78 million in gross national product. Hog inventories have fluctuated: they rose from 145,000 head in 1997 to 180,000 in 2011, then declined to 109,000 by December 2023.
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