It was baby steps for me. I started gardening and wanted to garden organically, which at first to me just meant not using chemicals. As I read and researched more, I realized it was a lot more than that - soil amendment and care, companion planting, etc. From there I started composting. I've always been a big recycler, and took it a step further when I started composting, by which I mean I took things that my city recycling program wouldn't recyle, and composted them. I shred every bit of used paper for the compost, and I compost all paper towels. (My program takes newspaper, and they recently started taking mail, so I now give all glossy mail and all catalogs/magazines to the recyling bin). I also rip up all paperboard - cereal boxes, macaroni boxes, toilet paper tubes, etc. This all goes into my compost pile or lasagna beds. I use recycled paper products and recycled and/or biodegradable garbage bags. I've started using a lot of organic foods lately. Last year I started working a few hours on an organic farm, and I also find in general that more local markets are carrying organic foods, as well as organic cleaning supplies and health & beauty products, etc., so while it's quite expensive, I get what I can afford organically. I'm trying to avoid GM foods, but that is difficult. I also conserve water by using buckets in the sinks and shower, using rain barrels outside, and flushing only when necessary, as well as not using as much water to begin with. As I continue to read, I find I've become quite the eco-nut, lol. I freecycle everything I can, I buy used - if I buy at all. I'm becoming my grandmother lol - you know the type. You buy grandma a beautiful cahsmere sweater to replace the old one she's worn since you were born, and she puts it away because the old one is "perfectly good", lol! I only eat free-range, organic, local meat, I use re-usable bags, I write e-mails to companies admonishing them to use #1 or #2 plastic in their packaging so it can be recycled. I subscribe to a couple of organic publications/e-letters, and I read a lot more on sustainable living than I ever did. So it's definitely something that has built up over time. Speaking of significant others and other people who pick up habits, it's so true. My husband was hesitant to start composting due to critters, etc., and now he loves the fact that we put out one bag of garbage a week. He is also the house chef, so he is the one that always fills the compost bucket next to the sink. He asked me to get him some reusuable bags recently (big shock since he was a big plastic bag guy) and he's still in the "trying-to-remember-to-bring-them-in-the-store stage, lol. And when he comes home with groceries, I notice that he has more and more organic items in the bags. So it does rub off. Which reinforces my feeling that everything that one person does has an effect. Kind of encouraging. Sorry to go on so long. I can talk about this stuff forever, lol. Told you I was becoming an eco-nut! :) Dee

The sausage supply places I do business with have many books on sausage making and recipes. My favorites are- Alliid Kenco, Butcher Packer, and The Sausage Maker. These companies are great to do most business with. Its where I found the high melting point cheddar cheese in a fine diced cut, as well as the dried beer flavor. I use dried sweet green and red peppers in some of my Italian types. I NEVER try to get my sausages to look as white as store bought, thats just WAY TOO MUCH FAT!!! Instead, I use a litte water based fat replacer, as well as soy flour for 'fillers', but these are maybe a cup or two for 15 pounds of meat. I do not use pork FAT BACK or SALT PORK as these are both cured and salty. If gound and added to sausages, the melt and run out very fast, and leave a mealy, dry, wet sawdust consistancy to the sausgae meat. My sausages usually have about 25% prok fat ONLY. Also, for the chinese type, grind some fresh ginger and garlic, then add some of the Ah So Red BBW sauce for ribs. Its a really good sausage combination! Recently, I made about 300 Peking Ravioli (AKA Pot Stickers), and even used finely diced water chestnuts and water chestnut powder (instead of cornstarch) to firm up the filling once they were cooked in the pasta shells. I used to go to a site with about 500 recipes submitted by people all over. Many recipes were very similar except for the herbs amounts used. The site has since gone down. Wish there was another like it, but have not found any yet. Most of my various sausages are made from many different recipes, as I like to experiment with herbs and their combinations. Most of my batches of breakfast sausages are the same, however, with pepper, coriander, and sage as the basics. Polish Kielbasa are usually made with Marjorum, and garlic. The companies listed also have seasoning kits for most common sausage types. Butcher Packer has the dried beer and cheddar cheese.

I don't know....but I live in Iowa....and it's a close estimate if there are more hogs than people....but perhaps that's Illinois....but I DO know from pigs! Never heard any sort of food or meat referred to as "hog"...a hog is a living animal...once it becomes meat it's "pork"...so "hog hocks" is just a little strange. You might have pork hocks or ham hocks depending on if the meat is cured or not....but you for sure don't have "hog hocks". I like pickled pigs feet which I guess is a German thing. And when I used to get 2 hogs a year butchered, I would ask for some of the hocks to be smoked along with the bacon, I used them for soup or to cook with beans. But to eat...I asked for shanks...a little further away from the foot, more meat. But at any rate....they are not "hog hocks". An example of using "hog hocks" in a sentence might be "Those hogs on the north side of the lot are up to their hocks in manure, better get that lot cleaned out." Linda C...in Iowa

We're in TX (over an hour NW of San Antonio) and the co-op I buy free-range, organic chickens from charges $3 per pound. We don't eat pork very often, but I checked the website of the people we buy our grass fed beef from, and here are the prices: PORK -------------------------------- Unfortunately, we haven't found a way to effectively pasture pigs in this area. But rather than raising them in pens with concrete floors, our pigs grow up outdoors on the land. However, we don't have adequate wooded areas to provide tree roots, nuts, etc. Since pigs are not ruminants, they are supplemented with some grain. That being said, we think this "transitional" pork is a big step ahead of the conventionally-grown pigs, and we think you'll agree once you try this clean pork. Ground pork ($4.10/lb) -- If you'd rather make your own sausage, here's the foundation; it's great for stuffed bell peppers and other places where you want a change from ground beef (1 lb) Pork sausages -- Can't beat them in the morning or evening (see Beef Sausages above if you don't want pork) Pork breakfast sausage ($4.20/lb) -- Available in both MILD and HOT forms, it's great in the skillet or oven; free of nitrites and MSG spices. Spices include salt, red & black pepper, sage, and brown sugar (1 lb) Pork fresh German sausage ($4.90/lb) -- Throw a link on the grill and make everyone happy; since these links are not smoked, they require a bit more time to grill, but they are free of nitrites and MSG. Spices include salt, black pepper, and garlic (1.3 lbs) Pork smoked German sausage ($4.90/lb) -- Same ingredients as the fresh version, but they're already smoked/cooked; they have nitrites, however, but no MSG. Spices include salt, black pepper, garlic, and sodium nitrite (1.3 lbs) Pork bratwurst ($4.90/lb) -- Similar to German, but replaces garlic with subtle caraway, nutmeg, & marjoram; no nitrites or MSG. Spices include salt, pepper, caraway seed, nutmeg, and marjoram (1.3 lbs) Shoulder roast ($4.00/lb) -- Also called a Boston Butt, this is a very balanced roast, much like a beef pot roast (3-4 lbs) Shoulder steak ($4.20/lb) -- Cut from the best part of the shoulder, these steaks are considered the economy (budget) pork chop (2 steaks per pkg, 1.25 lbs) Spare ribs ($3.90/lb) -- A bigger slab than the baby backs (3 lbs) Country-style ribs ($4.50/lb) -- These are the common grilling ribs and more economical than baby backs (2-3 lbs) Baby back ribs ($8.70/lb) -- Nothing like a slab of these babies slathered with a rub or some thick BBQ sauce (3-4 lbs) Ham -- Bone-in ($4.90), cured, & smoked; just heat a few hours and enjoy (8-12 lbs) Ham steaks ($5.00/lb) -- If you like the smoked flavor but want something smaller than a ham, here's your answer; these steaks are similar to pork chops, but they're smoked and ready to eat (12-20 oz) Pork cutlet ($4.20/lb) -- Cut from the center of the ham, these are similar to beef cutlets and perfect for schnitzel (1.5 lbs, 4 cutlets per pkg) Pork loin roast ($5.00/lb) -- Roast that is similar to a beef prime rib if you left the rib bone in, but it's chock full of pork chops instead (2-3 lbs) Prime pork ($6.00/lb) -- Boneless pork loin that would normally be cut into chop; stacked together in a group of 3, it's like a pork version of beef prime rib (3 lbs) Pork chops (3/4", 2 chops per pkg, 1 lb) Sirloin chops ($5.70/lb) -- This bone-in chop is the pork loin roast cut into chops Bone-in ($6.00) & boneless chops ($6.30/lb) -- We save only the best for your grill. The bone-in chop includes tenderloin along with the bone, while the boneless chop is a butterflied center cut Bacon, seasoned/raw ($6.90/$5.20 per lb) -- Right from the belly; it's relatively lean and nitrite-free as well; you can get it seasoned (a few spices) or raw (also known as side pork); try our beef bacon if you can't eat pork but still love bacon (1 lb) Bacon ends ($6.90/lb) -- Nitrite-free just like our bacon, hunk it into green beans, kraut, etc. This is the last part of the belly where it gets too small to send through the slicer, but it's still the same quality (1 lb) Pork tenderloin ($8.00/lb) -- The whole loin, similar to the beef tenderloin (1 lb) Neck bones ($1.50/lb), ham hocks ($3.30/lb) -- Maybe you remember these from your childhood; often used in soups, stews, or a pot of beans (1-2 lbs)