China consumes around 50-60 million tonnes of pork each year, which is half of what the entire world eats.
While China’s huge population also plays a role, on the per capita consumption also China ranks 4th.
There are various reasons why pork is so popular in China.
Reason 1: Pig is a low maintenance animal
Pigs can be raised on ‘waste’ and while China is prospering now, several severe crises in the past (e.g., 36 million were killed by famine in the 1970s) made low-cost raising a critical factor.
Reason 2: Historical significance
Pigs are believed to be among the first animals domesticated for food in ancient China around 7000 BC.
In Mandarin, the Chinese character for ‘roof’ when written above the Chinese character for ‘pig’ creates a word, which means ‘home’.
Reason 3: Symbol of societal and economic stability
Because pork is the staple diet in China and 70% of all meat eaten is pork, an increase in its price leads to an overall increase in consumer prices.
This happens because when pork prices increase, people move to protein alternates, and their prices also increase, thereby creating an inflationary cycle.
So, the Chinese government does everything possible to keep pork affordable to maintain societal stability.
This includes providing subsidies to pig farmers and buying or leasing millions of hectares of lands across various countries to support pig farming.
