That pretty well matches my situation, although given the options presented I voted “about the same amount.”
Voted for “about the same amount”, but it’s probably beef-chicken-pork.
The last few years we’ve been using 1-1/4" pork chops (America’s Cut), which we were introduced to when my brother was a pork producer (eg, pig farmer). You cook those to just pink, much more rare - or much less well-done - than old cookbooks recommend.
Lately we’ve been eating breakfast chops - about 3/8" thick, much like the thinner chops I remember having while growing up. They’re quick to cook, and I cook these to crispiness. The thicker cuts are too much for my wife and me to eat these days.
In addition: holiday ham, a breakfast ham slice, deli-sliced ham for sandwiches, bacon, bratwurst, breakfast sausage - we probably buy a wider variety of pork products than any other meat.
Now let’s talk about Spam…
The last time I had pork was about 48 years ago. I became a vegetarian and in the 90’s I started eating chicken ,turkey and fish again but not pork or cow or lamb.
Pork is my favourite “mammal-type meat” (and there are none of those, commonly available, that I actually dislike) – I eat it usually a couple of time per week, most often in chop / stew form (love it as roast, too); and like it in its more common derivatives (bacon,all kinds of sausage). My brother is as keen a “foodie” as I am; but he finds pork roast / grilled / ordinarily stewed, a bit dull compared to lamb or beef. It would be boring if we all liked / disliked the same stuff as each other…
Might this in some cases, be religion-associated? I’ve found that some Christians can feel at any rate, dubious about the flesh of the pig – because of the Jewish taboo against it (their actual theology re this matter, usually seeming vague and hazy).
If you’re not buying and cooking pork loin roasts at $1.70 a point pound you’re missing out. They relaxed the temp standards from years ago and now you can cook a juicy delicious roast for a few bucks. It’s better than beef for the price.
We’ve been getting chops cut like that as well. I sous vide them medium rare, then sometimes give them a quick sear, although pork doesn’t seem to “need” the sear like beef does. Mmmmmmmmm.
Right. God forbid the poor have opinions, religions other than Christian, or potentially medical problems
Sorry if that comes off a bit harsh, but I’ve had to eat out of food pantries at two different points in my life and did not always find the experience wonderful.
Possible reasons for refusing pork:
- Religious - Jews and Muslims being the big two, but there are others.
- Dislike of pork - some people just don’t like it, either because they don’t like meat (my mother-in-law was like that) or find pork greasy or just don’t like that particular meat.
- Medical - some types of pork ARE greasy and may disagree with folks who don’t tolerate fatty foods well. There are less common reasons like allergies.
One time at a food pantry I got crap from someone for refusing spaghetti - well, I have a terrible allergy to tomatoes and eating anything with tomato in it, like spaghetti sauce, would send me to the hospital or perhaps even kill me, yet when I refused the past in red sauce I was being “ungrateful” and must not need help. How dare I be so choosy and refuse aid! Tomato allergy? Never heard of it!
Personally, I can not abide the smell of uncooked pork. It makes me nauseous. So I never, ever, bring pork home to cook it. The two exceptions are ham and bacon, both of which are modified sufficiently by preservative methods that they don’t trigger that response (though, occasionally, I do get it from uncooked bacon). It’s about 50/50 I’d opt for non-meat over a pork entree - but then, on occasion, I’ll opt for non-meat when offered a choice between that and beef or chicken or a lot of other meats I really enjoy because I like non-meat as well as meat.
On the other hand, if I seated at a table and the main course is something like a pork roast I’ll eat it because I don’t find cooked pork repulsive even if it’s not my favorite by a long shot.
So… let’s assume I go into a food pantry. In addition to offering take-home items they also offer a sit-down meal. If among the take-home items you have a canned ham I’ll take it, or even a can of Spam, and if the sit-down meal has pork chops I’ll eat them, but if you have jerked pork in BBQ sauce I’ll have to refuse (tomato content). And I’m sure that might be puzzling to an on-looker but I shouldn’t have to recite my medical issues every time I sit down to eat.
A different person who has to watch their sodium might reject the canned pork variants but be very happy to eat a pork roast, because high blood pressure doesn’t go down simply because you’re poor enough to need a food pantry (though sometimes you won’t have a choice).
So there are a lot of different reasons people might not want pork, or be “picky” about which pork items they select. And heck, just because someones poor doesn’t mean they don’t have a right to preferences. There’s a difference between “hungry” and actual starvation, and the hungry in the US generally are just hungry, not starving.
One thought, though I do like and eat pork is that pork is hard to have often. It gets boring fast. I have experienced it, and think it’s partly because it’s the cheapest (mammal) meat out there, so there is a temptation to use it more often for those who need to budget to ‘make ends meet’ and partly because it doesn’t not have the flavor characteristics of other meats (Perhaps it is because pigs were bred to be leaner IDK), perhaps it is because it is common to have cheap pork in huge quantities, such as the butt portion, frequently on sale, which means eating pork for a while. With that said, the other cheap meat, chicken I never seem to get tired of.
There are numerous accountings of people ‘going Jewish’ or other in prison to get the Kosher foods, partly said that they regular foods are usually pork, so there is that.
May I reiterate, I love bacon 
Otherwise, my mouth is watering for pork! Where’s my BBQ sauce!!?!?!? :eek:
My answer would be, “I like pork but don’t have it all that often - other than bacon, maybe only once a month.”
As soon as I posted that, I thought: What about chicken breast, dumbass!?
My experience is mainly with tri-tip, and I find that beef tri-tip has a wider window of goodness than does pork. That may also be a function of the size, as a pork piece is much smaller and so easier to overcook. But YMMV.
Ranked in order of consumption:
1 Beef
2 Chicken
3 Pork
4 Turkey
5 Everything else
The amount of beef vs chicken consumed is fairly close, but beef narrowly edges out chicken. We probably consume about half as much pork as we do chicken and half as much turkey as we do pork. “Everything else” represents a pretty small slice of the meat consuming pie chart.
I eat pork when it’s on sale. I only eat the leaner cuts of meat, so center cut pork loin is my pig of choice. It’s not usually on sale. Mostly I eat chicken and fish. Then beef, then pork.
Compared to fish and beef, pork is always on sale.
My mom is from eastern North Carolina. Pork is both meat, in many awesome forms, and the seasoning for a lot vegetables. There used to be lard in the biscuits and pie crust too but she doesn’t make those anymore.
Last option for me. It’s been 25 years since I’ve eaten pork.
But I don’t eat mammals. I do eat birds and fish. So the vegan/vegetarian option doesn’t apply.
The original reason for giving up the mammals was issue with how wasteful it is to raise livestock like cattle and pigs and I wasn’t quite willing to go completely vegetarian.
That was the driving reason for about 2 years. Then another 10 years it was just habit. Then the last 13 or so the thought of eating pork/beef/mutton/etc. is mildly repulsive to me.
Honestly, even if I didn’t keep kosher, I don’t think I’d be much of a pork person, anyway. I don’t like white meat in fish or birds, don’t see why I’d enjoy it in quadrupeds.
(Bacon is another story. For the other 5 Jews/Muslims in the poll, I’d like to make a public service announcement about the existence of beef bacon).
I have to find it on sale. I’m supposed to eat it three times a week.
I’m a vegetarian, but I do slip up maybe once a year and have bacon. Bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon, there’s no substitute for real bacon.
It might be. I’m fuzzy on the religious preferences of the needy people of this town.