pig at summer camp...

[SMT224]

First, a sturdy pen is constructed with a solid rain shelter area. Then one pig is added the first week of Scout summer camp. All of the un-eaten food from the dinning hall from every meal goes to the pig. Scouts care for the pig as they earn the Animal Science merit badge. Each week the pig grows bigger as another group of Scouts cares for it and works on the merit badge. The health of the animal is monitored and feed adjusted / supplemented as needed. The last week of camp culminates mid-week as the Scouts learn how to slaughter an animal. Then everyone enjoys a Pork BBQ on Friday night.

 

Why doesn't this happen at every Scout summer camp in America?

[shortridge]

Which camp does this take place at?

[SMT224]

Ha! Yes! Where indeed! That is the question.

At the moment it's in a sweet little place called my imagination.

 

[roguedawg]

Sounds like a "SWINE DINE" to me. At Camp Brule', Ranger Joe would have the scouts separate the food from the non-food items and would take the slop to a nearby farmer. He would feed the pigs from May until the end of summer camp. Then at the end of the year he would get some pork for his family. It saved the council a lot of money instead of disposing of the garbage in the landfill.

 

Having the boys work towards a merit badge is a good idea as well. I would think that slaughtering a pig would freak out some kids as well as parents. Not that I would be oppossed to it. People seem to think that they get meat from the store and not from animals.

 

When I was younger my mom had a rooster that was mean to the other chickens. She said to get rid of it. She then told us to take the bird down to camp and teach the kids how to butcher a chicken. So I took the rooster to camp, tied a string to his leg and put a stake into the ground. I carried him to cracker barrel on Friday night. Of course that got everybody to laughing at the meeting. I was asked what his name was, My reply was, "Diner!" So on Sat. evening all these scouts were hanging around our campsite. I thought it was odd, and then one of them asked that they were waiting to see me do the rooster in. So I did, all the kids watched, and then we removed the feathers and cooked it.

 

But that old rooster got revenge on me. He was the toughest bird I ever chewed on. My ASM ate the other half and I tossed mine in the fire. We had this lady, Tony, that would visit our campsite. I offered her some chicken and she ate it. She was being really nice and told me that it was better than how she cooks it. I laughed and asked her if she was telling the truth. She said "NO!, it is the worst chicken I ever tasted."

 

But a week later my dad got a call from the DE. I guess some parents did not like that Jonnie was exposed to the blood feast. My dads response was, "You don't expect us to eat a live chicken do you?" So to answer your question,

 

Why doesn't this happen at every Scout summer camp in America?

 

Probably because the council does not want to deal with phone calls or PETA type groups.

 

Anyways, some of the kids at camp eat like pigs. We wouldn't want to relate summer camp to the story "Lord of the Flies" would you? RD

[jmwalston]

"Why doesn't this happen at every Scout summer camp in America?

 

Probably because the council does not want to deal with phone calls or PETA type groups."

 

Considering that just a few months back there was a heated discussion on this site about the ethics of mounting insects for a merit badge, I'm sure there would be opposition to slaughtering an animal for consumption at a summer camp. I believe that you would also require an USDA inspection of the carcass in the case of swine before consumption in the camp.(This message has been edited by jmwalston)

[Rythos]

Our health department inspector would consider this a violation due to serving meat to the public from an unapproved (uninspected) source, so probably not worth the parent complaints and fines from the health inspector

 

Ry

[baschram645]

There's actually a couple more reason's not to do this at a scout camp.

Pigs can be very dangerous if you are not careful, so a scout could get hurt.

Next, in the summer it is hot and pig farms tend to smell very bad.

Also, to meet the requirement a scout must raise a feeder pig from weaning to market weight. Or they can choose to visit a hog farm or packing plant, which makes raising a pig moot.

Lastly, you get one scout with a misguided moral compass who might let the pig out one night and no BLT's.

 

[SMT224]

Well... so much for this idea, what with the Swine Flu knocking at our door.

 

Likely nix as well for packaging it as facilitating an infectious disease merit badge at summer camp.

 

Like they say in the movies, "When pigs fly"!

[Buffalo Skipper]

Use the past tense: When swine flew.

[Nike]

That pig would probably have many merry mid-night adventures. Oh the places he'd go, or be led to and left. Not to mention he'd probably get dressed up about once a day in someone's uni.

 

With only one pig, he'd end up more of a mascot/pet than bacon.

 

 

[roguedawg]

Infectious Disease Merit Badge??? Sound like a good idea for a new Merit Badge Game. The badge would have a green boarder, an orange background, and the black "biological hazard" symbol. But that is another topic to be posted. RD

[Basementdweller]

You guys need to at least educate yourself before you speak.

 

You cannot get swine flu from eating pork.

 

The problem with raising then slaughtering a pig on site, beyond the entire occult thing, is most of the scouts are city kids. Without them seeing the actual killing and cleaning, you might as well just go to the local butcher and buy a hog for your pig roast.

 

Have you actually roasted a pig? Do you understand the amount of effort involved?

[Narraticong]

When you butcher that hog, be sure to use an official BSA pocketknife. Remember, "large sheath knives are discouraged".

[SMT224]

Basementdweller -- Yes & Yes.

 

You're right - it does take a lot of effort. Effort to raise the animal, effort to feed it and clean up after it, effort to kill and clean it, effort to clean up after the slaughter, and then effort to roast it. But I think kids these days should see part, if not all the steps involved that culminates in eating meat. It's far more than just the effort of ordering a plate of BBQ pork. Hence my original post. And yes, I fully understand it's never gonna happen - for a whole bunch of reasons, many of which are listed in this discussion. Nevertheless, I still think it's something everyone should experience.

 

[Stosh]

As one who has been involved in whole-pig roasting, the process can be quite fun. Collect up the pig, take him down to the local locker have it processed, bring it back put it on a spit, and after 24 hours of hand cranking there's nothing left to do but eat some of the best pork you'll ever taste.

 

By the way, one cannot get the swine-flu from pork any more than one can get avian-flu from eating chicken or a green-sick fracture from playing with green sticks. The only good thing from such ignorance is the price of pork is dropping and I'm stocking up!

 

Stosh