'Hog heaven' at one Austin farm

AUSTIN (KXAN) - City kids are regulars on the weekly tours Green Gate Farms founder Erin Flynn offers on her organic operation in far east Austin. As they move from barn to pen to farmyard, they get one consistent message: The diverse farm animal gene pool that once marked American agriculture is disappearing.

"Imagine there was a world with just Siamese cats and no other kind of cat," Flynn tells Cameron and Tyler Torres, who are visiting from their home in Lakeway. "And then there's a world where there was just beagles for dogs and that's it, no other kind. That's what's happening with our food: We only have one kind of animal, one kind of turkey, one kind of pig. And so when that happens, other animals go extinct."

Among the other animals Flynn is talking about are the Guinea hogs that made their way to America, probably in conjunction with the slave trade.

"They probably came to the United States back in the 1600s," said Flynn. "They were the kind of pig that every American farmer had in the South because you would keep them around your house and they would eat your garbage; they would eat snakes; they would keep you company. And if you use them right, you can even till up your garden with them because they like to nose around.

"Once you decided you were ready to harvest them, which could be at anywhere from one to five years old, then they would be lard and bacon and all the things you need. Back then the animals had to really help the farm; they couldn't just be off in the distance sucking down grain. They had to serve a lot of purposes. That's what these hogs do; they don't just stand still and wait to be fed grain."

A lot has changed since then. For one thing, urban sprawl in the United States has gobbled up farm land. Much of the farming that gets done here now is done by large agribusinesses that breed animals for size and speed of growth. Diversity of species and other uses of animals are not considered.

"People forget that as farms have gotten bigger and bigger and bigger, so has the equipment, so has the animals, and so the scale gets beyond a human level," Flynn said. "Breeds like Guinea hogs have been pushed aside because there's only so much bacon on them.

"The animals that we grow are raised for their flavor, for their temperament and because we want to preserve certain genetics," Flynn tells her guests. "When you're eating bacon from fast-food places, you're eating factory food and it's all from probably one or two breeds. You're not getting any sort of diversity and that means animals like these die out," she adds with a wave of her hand toward Licorice, a Guinea hog mother who recently gave birth to two female piglets.

Flynn is actively trying to save the species, which she said is down to only about 2,000 hogs. There was, however, a bump in the road. When Licorice gave birth to Alpha and Omega, the sow accidentally sat on and crushed Omega.

"Omega is here and really has a life force; she really wants to be here," Flynn said. "And so that's why we're putting this energy into her, trying to bring her back, and hopefully, she can perpetuate the breed."

There are no guarantees, though. As Omega gains weight, her atrophied hind legs may not be able to support her. If she can't get around and do all those things Guinea hogs do, her future may be dark. To make matters worse, Flynn says she can't afford expensive vet bills. So she turned instead, to Deborah Carroll, an animal rehabilitation practitioner.

"It appears that there's no fracture, no real pain issue," Carroll said as she treated Omega with a laser light designed to speed external and internal healing.

But if Flynn can't afford a vet, how will Carroll get paid. Simple, it turns out: She's agreed to accept payment in the form used by those long ago farmers who did appreciate the importance of diversity. Flynn will trade organic food produced on her farm for the treatments.

"What we're trying to show is that if you want five acres and you want to have a system where you are feeding your family and probably have extra for your neighbors, you can do it," she said. "And it doesn't just have to be vegetables; it can be animals, as well."

She turns back to Licorice, now nursing her offspring and sums it up: "As I like to say, these are the eagles of swine; they're going extinct. And if we don't make an effort to preserve these breeds, their genes go away and we can't get them back. So I encourage more and more farmers to start looking into breeds that serve a lot of purposes other than do they make a lot of bacon?"