Traffic Exchange

May 23, 2013

Butcher selling pork from marijuana-fed pigs

Butcher selling pork from marijuana-fed pigs
This is what they meant by pot-bellied pig!

We're getting high on the hog of BB Ranch butcher William von Schneidau, who feeds marijuana to his pigs and sells them at Seattle's Pike Place Market. SeattleMet reports that Schneidau adds "weed to the feed" -- yes, the stems, stalks and seeds -- to give his meat a more savory flavor.

The "pot pigs" are partly a celebration of Washington voters passing a pot-legalization initiative late last year, MSN reports. But they're also a real culinary experiment. Schneidau says the pot plants add fiber to the pigs' diets, which makes the meat taste delicious, man.

No, you won't get high from the meat. But the pigs get high from the weed, SeattleMet reports:

    Apparently, not all mammals can process THC, but most have cannabinoid receptors. Cannabinoids are the other chemicals in marijuana, often linked to the medicinal properties, which help with pain and discomfort. Pigs have these receptors, and the four that ate this enhanced feed gained more weight and likely felt way more mellow than their non-ganja feeding friends.

If you're disappointed that ganja pigs won't produce ganja bacon, do it the Schneidau way. Halfway through a recent tasting, one of his guests rounded up 75 percent of the room and "got baked."