Weed-fed Pigs: Food Sovereignty in the Blind Spot

Abstract

Implicit everyday forms of food sovereignty can be explored to reveal the diversity of the movement. For example, the ways in which elderly villagers raise pigs on weeds in central China share some features with the “quiet food sovereignty” of Russia. Small-scale pig rearing is largely invisible to outsiders, so identifying it relies heavily on weeds as indicators. Bounded by age in rural southwest Hubei, the small space of raising weed-fed pigs emerged in a blind spot between discourses on modern technological agriculture and concerns for food safety. In the 1990s, elderly villagers continued feeding pigs on local plants instead of using industrial fodder in order to retain the authentic taste of pork, which continues to have social value. The practice took on added significance as a form of self-protection from food-safety issues in the 2000s. It provides a moral buffer for elderly villagers sandwiched between the conflicting values of modern scientific and technological farming supported by the state policy of “Increasing Agricultural Prosperity with Modern Sci-tech” and emerging organic or green food movements motivated by urban people's desire for safe foods and state agenda on developing rural tourism. Despite the ecological, material, health, and social benefits of operating in this small space, their implicit food sovereignty goes unnoticed. Because raising weed-fed pigs functions invisibly, it remains in the blind spot of mass food discourses in China.