From Farm to Table: The Art of Hog Butchering
Danielle Jackson, Secretary of the Catoctin Area FFA Alumni and Supporters Chapter
February is a month that usually brings cold weather, wind, and snow. But every February in the Catoctin community marks another year for the annual Catoctin FFA Hog Butchering.
This year, the butchering took place on Friday, February 7, and it is estimated to be the 37th year for the event. The weather was absolutely perfect! A little windy, but otherwise the perfect temperature for a February butchering. The annual event is held at Catoctin High School in the agricultural area. Every year, we have about 100 Catoctin FFA members, Catoctin Area FFA Alumni and Supporters members, and community members, who all come together to help and further strengthen the bonds within this tight-knit community.
This year marked a new record in how many orders were placed and how much pork was processed. There were 25 hogs that were butchered, as well as 2,500 pounds of additional meat needed to complete and fill all the orders that were placed throughout the community. Although events of family butcherings are fading and something that you don’t commonly see anymore, the Catoctin High School FFA Chapter and the Catoctin Area FFA Alumni Chapter and Supporters are committed to preserving the tradition and teaching the next generation the importance of knowing where their food comes from.
The sole purpose of this event is to be a fundraiser for the Catoctin FFA Chapter members, as well as educate our youth and students of how pork is processed and packaged. It is actually one of Catoctin FFA Chapter’s biggest fundraisers of the year. Throughout the day, classes were brought down to the agricultural area and given a tour to watch and observe the butchering process. A lot of teachers will incorporate a lesson around the butchering to teach in their classrooms for the day. The butchering isn’t just an agricultural lesson, or an experience, it can also be tied into other aspects of learning, such as math, science, photography, social studies, health, and history. Math teachers will incorporate the scales and weighing of the processed meat into their assignments. Some science teachers will include the biology and chemistry of hog into their lessons. And health teachers can incorporate how pork is an excellent source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. The butchering experience also gives non-ag students at the school a new and better appreciation for agriculture. Some teachers even take the day off to come and help volunteer. The hogs are killed, scalded, cleaned, and halved at a USDA approved facility and then brought to the school that morning. The Catoctin FFA Chapter, Catoctin Area FFA Alumni and Supporters Chapter, and community members take care of the rest. Everything is done that day, from setting up butchering tables, kettles, and processors, to breaking down the parts of the hog into their specific cuts, to grinding sausage, deboning meat, cutting chops, ribs, roasts, bacon, and everything in between.
Lunch consisted of a home-cooked meal, provided by the Catoctin Area FFA Alumni and Supporters members. Sausage patties are fried using the fresh sausage from the hogs. Later in the day, the scrapple and puddin’ orders are cooked in the large kettles outside, followed by weighing, bagging, and sorting the orders, and finally, customers can come and pick up their orders at the end of the day.
The day usually starts around 6:00 a.m. and doesn’t end until at least 7:00 p.m.—or sometimes even later. This is a very fast-paced day, and it takes a village to complete. But it is also one of the most rewarding and educational days for Catoctin FFA members, Catoctin Area FFA Alumni and Supporters members, and community members. It is important for everyone to know where their food comes from and how it is processed from the farm to their table.
This event would not have been possible without the help from students, members, and advisors of the Catoctin FFA Chapter, members of the Catoctin Area FFA Alumni and Supporters Chapter, the staff and faculty of Catoctin High School, and the extensive support of the surrounding Catoctin area community members. The Catoctin High School FFA Chapter hopes to keep this tradition alive for as long as possible and for generations to come.
It was a full house at the annual Catoctin FFA Hog Butchering, with the help of past, present, and future FFA members.
FFA members grind sausage to be processed for orders.
Alumni and community members divide the hogs into their specific cuts of meat.
