Pork’s place on the plate is bigger than most people realize. It is one of the world’s most widely eaten meats—long accounting for roughly a third of global meat consumption and remaining neck-and-neck with poultry in total volume—yet two major religions forbid it entirely. That contrast makes the story more interesting, not less. Flavor, versatility, and the sheer scale of demand in places that do eat pork have kept it at the center of diets from Chinese dumpling shops to American backyard grills.

The National Pork Board’s “Taste What Pork Can Do” campaign, launched in May 2025, is built around exactly that idea: pork is not the “other” white meat or a special-occasion protein. It is a bold, adaptable everyday flavor that younger eaters already crave in bacon, sausage, and global dishes.

On a recent Rosie on the House show, our guest was Vicki Trump, owner of Arizona Berkshires, a show pig operation serving youth in 4-H and FFA. The full episode is at the bottom of this article.

Arizona Pork Production

Arizona’s contribution is smaller than the big Midwestern production states, but it is real and measurable.

Arizona has one major commercial pork farm, Yosemite Foods, several direct-market operations, and several smaller farms that raise pigs for 4-H and FFA youth. According to USDA figures cited in industry analysis, the state’s pork sector generates gross cash receipts that can range from about $45 million to $65 million. An industry report from the National Pork Producers Council estimates that roughly 600 jobs are tied to the Arizona pork value chain—input suppliers, producers, processors, handlers, and the main-street businesses that benefit when those workers spend money locally. The same analysis, based on 2023 production levels, found that the industry supports an estimated $46.84 million in personal income and $79.78 million in gross national product. Hog inventories have fluctuated: they rose from 145,000 head in 1997 to 180,000 in 2011, then declined to 109,000 by December 2023.

A Global Perspective

Those numbers sit inside a much larger global picture. China alone accounts for a huge share of world pork consumption; traditional dishes such as char siu, sweet-and-sour pork, and dumpling fillings make the meat a staple for a population of more than 1.4 billion. High per-capita consumption in parts of Europe, South Korea, and the Americas adds further volume. Islam and Judaism prohibit pork—rooted in religious dietary laws that classify the animal as unclean—and those communities together number well over two billion people. Most of the world’s population has kept demand high enough for pork to remain one of the top two meats by volume for decades. Pigs convert feed efficiently, reach market weight relatively quickly, and produce a meat that takes spices, smoke, and sauces from nearly any cuisine. That practical combination explains the persistence in demand more than any single cultural preference.

Taste What Pork Can Do

The “Taste What Pork Can Do” campaign leans into the same strengths. The National Pork Board designed it as a digital-first effort aimed at Millennials and Gen Z, emphasizing flavor and versatility rather than the old campaign “other white meat” positioning. Early activations included a New York pop-up dining experience with chef Joshua Weissman; later work featured global recipes developed with chef Marcus Samuelsson, covering American sticky ribs, Mexican pork-belly tacos, Japanese ham-hock fried rice, and Brazilian-style grilled tenderloin. The explicit goal is to move pork from an occasional purchase (the average U.S. consumer buys it only a handful of times a year) into more regular meal rotations by showing how easily it fits weeknight cooking and international flavors.

Key social media influencers are demonstrating the ease of cooking pork and why it deserves a central place on our dinner plates.

The National Pork Board’s human nutrition team, led by Dr. Kristen Hicks-Roof, Director of Human Nutrition and a registered dietitian, points to a 2024 sensory analysis the board commissioned that mapped pork as having an unusually wide flavor range—more than 110 distinct nuances.

The study, led by Lisbeth Ankersen of InnovaConsult, found 111 unique flavor nuances across pork muscle and offal, and about 30 in pork fat alone. Those notes are not just “porky” or savory. They include sweet, fruity, and floral tones, plus clove, hazelnut, mushroom, walnut, and coconut. Pork also registers on the basic taste dimensions—sweet, salty, acidic, and umami—and on kokumi, a Japanese term for a lingering sense of richness or “deliciousness” that sits outside the classic five tastes.

Lean pork scored the most intense umami of plant and animal proteins compared in the work. Cooking method and cut change which flavor notes come forward. Air-fried tenderloin and roasted pork roast, for example, ranked among the juiciest and sweetest preparations. The research also produced flavor wheels and maps so pairings and methods can be matched to specific cuts.

Hicks-Roof’s explanation ties that range directly to how people eat. She has said flavor drives behavior: when food tastes good, people stick with it. In the board’s framing, pork works as a “flavor vehicle” or “carrier food.” Its umami and those secondary notes (mushroom, nut, spice, floral) make it easy to pair with fruits, vegetables, and sauces from many cuisines, so a balanced plate does not have to taste plain. The nutrition argument is that the complexity of flavor helps people actually eat those nutrients regularly.

Board members have used the same finding in campaign language. Gordon Spronk has summarized it as pork having “over 100 flavors,” which is why it fits multiple cultures. That sensory result sits behind the “Taste What Pork Can Do” positioning: pork is not one flavor profile but a flexible base that can taste like the dish around it—char siu, carnitas, pepperoni, smoked ribs, or a simple weeknight chop—while still delivering protein and micronutrients.

Pork’s Nutrition Profile

A 3-ounce serving of cooked lean pork, such as tenderloin, supplies more than 20 grams of protein and is a strong source of thiamin, selenium, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12; tenderloin is also American Heart Association Heart-Check certified.

Nutritionally, pork supplies more protein than chicken in comparable cuts and is a solid source of zinc, iron, and B vitamins. About a third of the fat in bacon is oleic acid, the same monounsaturated fat found in olive oil. Beyond the plate, pigs contribute to medicine: insulin and roughly 40 other medicines have been derived from them, and pig heart valves have long been used to replace damaged human valves. Federal rules prohibit added hormones in U.S. swine production, so American pork does not contain them.

Understanding The Pig

The animals themselves are more interesting than the cartoon version. Pigs rank among the smarter livestock species; they can learn commands, recognize their names, and even use simple tools. They are generally clean and avoid soiling the areas where they sleep or eat; the mud-rolling habit is mainly a way to cool off, since they have few sweat glands. Newborn piglets weigh about 2.5 pounds and can double that in a week; they recognize their mother’s voice. Their strongest sense is smell—strong enough that truffle hunters have historically used pigs to locate the fungi underground. Grunts convey excitement, contentment, or stress, and a squeal can hit 110–115 decibels. They can cover a mile in about seven minutes. European settlers brought pigs to North America, and salt pork helped sustain Continental troops at Valley Forge in the winter of 1776 to 1777. Swine were among the earliest domesticated animals.

A market hog that reaches 250 pounds will have eaten roughly 600 pounds of corn and 100 pounds of soybean meal. More than 500 non-meat products also come from pigs, ranging from insulin and heart valves to leather, certain cosmetics ingredients, adhesives, and industrial materials.

Arizona’s farms—commercial, direct-market, and youth-project—are part of that bigger story. The “Taste What Pork Can Do” message is straightforward: the same animal that has fed large parts of the world for centuries still delivers flavor, nutrition, and practical versatility on a Tuesday night in Phoenix or a backyard grill in Tucson.