Feeding 1 in 6. Vertical pork

Feeding 1 in 6. Vertical pork

From Feed: a food systems podcast by TABLEdebates.org

May 28, 2026 · 59 min

About this episode

This episode explores China's dominance in pork production and the associated costs to various stakeholders and ecosystems.

Today China produces roughly half the world's pork. Getting there required swine genetics from multiple continents, feed from Brazil, and a disease outbreak that wiped out hundreds of millions of animals. This episode asks how they did it, and what that cost - to the household pig, to the smallholder farmer, and to ecosystems thousands of kilometers away. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode100 Want to share your reflections on the episode?...

Topics covered

  • pork production
  • swine genetics
  • agriculture
  • food systems
  • ecosystems
  • smallholder farming

Keywords

  • China
  • pork
  • swine genetics
  • disease outbreak
  • smallholder farmer
  • ecosystems
  • agriculture

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: China

Products: pork

Places: Brazil, household pig, smallholder farmer, ecosystems

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