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The
Steller's sea cow, the passenger pigeon and
the New Zealand moa all
went extinct because people developed a taste for their meat.
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| Highland Cattle |
But
other animals are going their way precisely because they are no longer
preferred table fare. The Livestock Conservancy,
a North Carolina organization that advocates for the preservation of rare and
vanishing breeds, keeps an official list of nearly 200 domesticated birds and
mammals which today are at risk of vanishing. The group is trying to generate
interest in these breeds, among both consumers and farmers, to keep the animals
from going extinct.
"We
sometimes say, 'You need to eat them to save them — just don't eat them all,'
" says Ryan Walker, the marketing and communications manager of the
conservancy.
The Red Wattle, a pig
with exceptionally juicy flesh, and the Randall Lineback, a cow that produces beautiful rose-red veal, are two success stories — breeds that
were close to oblivion but that foodie ranchers have revived.
But
others haven't been so lucky. And it may be because lately no one has wanted to
eat them.
There
are fewer than 200 Choctaw hogs left,
for example. This pig was prized by the Native
American Choctaw tribe as a meat source. But displacement of the tribe led to
the breed's downfall. Today, Choctaw hogs live on just a few farms in a single
county in Oklahoma. The animals are still extremely vulnerable to inbreeding
and, Walker says, to natural disasters. "They could potentially get wiped
out by one tornado," he says.
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| Choctaw Hog |
But
Walker says the conservancy has received calls from people around the country
interested in rearing the pigs, and he guesses that within several years the
breed's population will start to increase. If the Choctaw is lucky, it should
start appearing in butcher shops for the first time.
Many,
if not most, heritage food animals are said to have a flavor that's distinct
from modern mainstream breeds – flavor that can now be appreciated by foodies
seeking novelty and quality. But many of these breeds
have been swiftly declining since about 70 years ago, when certain breeds began
to dominate industrial livestock production.
Before
World War II, farms were on average smaller and regional variations common in
both crops and livestock. But one by one, regional breeds were supplanted by
just a handful that were selectively bred to reproduce and grow faster,
withstand more cramped confinement, and generate more meat, milk or eggs.
Meanwhile,
hundreds of livestock breeds that were once commercially relevant have nearly
vanished. Among them are several dozen that The Livestock Conservancy lists as
critically endangered—like the Texas longhorn cattle,
the cotton patch goose,
the modern game chicken and
the San Clemente goat,
which originated on the rugged San Clemente Island, in the Channel Islands
chain off California. Through genetic isolation and natural selection, a unique
breed emerged. The nonnative goats became a hated pest in the 1970s, and most
were removed from the island or shot. Still, a few are raised on a small scale
for food, mostly in the Southwest.
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| Jacob Sheep |
Sometimes,
breeds believed to be lost are rediscovered—like the Beltsville small white turkey.
It was thought extinct until 2014, when the Livestock Conservancy discovered
that scientists with the University of Georgia were keeping a small research
flock.
"They
didn't even realize what they had until we saw the turkeys," says Walker.
"We thought the breed was extinct, and now they're back on the
table," as heritage breeders are working to restore them to abundance.
This process involves matching up prospective mates and selectively removing
other individuals from the breeding pool. Ultimately, several "very lucky
farmers" got to eat Beltsville small whites last Thanksgiving, Walker
says.
The key
to saving critically endangered breeds is finding people to breed and grow the
populations. Walker says his organization, without land to rear its own
animals, helps rare breeds by coordinating meetings between farmers who own the
animals.
Other
times, small farmers strike out on their own to get their hands on rare breeds
and grow their own herds. Several years ago, Amy Grabish and her husband Larry
Fox contacted the American Mulefoot Hog
Association,hoping to start their own passel. They bought several
animals, and today they keep about a dozen pigs but also fainting goats, Welsh
harlequin ducks and American buff geese.
 |
| Houdan Chicken |
Raising
such animals is not especially profitable, Grabish says, since some of them
grow more slowly, and in some cases are more temperamental, than mainstream
breeds. Fainting goats, for example, fall over when startled.
But she
and her husband chose to raise heritage breeds partly because they are hardier
than mainstream breeds.
"We
wanted animals that would be comfortable outside," Grabish tells The Salt.
Her mulefoot pigs have a coat of hair that protects them from sunburn in the
summer and keeps them warm in the winter. Though the animals are provided with
a shed, they don't use it. "They just hunker down under the eucalyptus
trees," she says.
Today,
in spite of the efforts of numerous ranchers and organizations focused on
preserving rare breeds, some are going extinct. Almost one livestock breed has
vanished every month around the world for at least the past six years,
according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture supports a program for
preserving heritage livestock breeds. The idea is to keep alive unique genetic
traits that could someday come in handy for breeders who are trying to create
hardier, or tastier, animals. In the American West, Walker says, demand is
growing for drought tolerant cattle that can withstand the unusually dry
conditions that may become the new normal going into the future. While many
rare breeds are kept alive on small farms, the USDA has preserved some
cryogenically—mainly via samples of frozen semen.
Farmers
like Grabish and Fox are doing their part to keep rare breeds alive, though
Grabish says they are reluctant to put their animals in contact with those from
other farms, due to concerns about disease transmission. Their own little
property provides only enough land to keep a few animals, which ultimately are
used to supply the family's own freezer and a circle of local restaurants. When
they sell breeding stock to other farmers, their hope, Grabish says, is that
the new owners will use the animals for breeding with others of their type.
"Because
these animals are so rare, their genetics need to be kept clean," she
says, "for science and for the gene pool."
(By Alastair Bland is a freelance writer based in San Francisco)
(Photos from the Livestock Conservancy)
(Photos from the Livestock Conservancy)
