We DO NOT like Smithfield. Hubby Frank and I have grown up in Virginia (for 65+ years). Smithfield has ruined pigs.....they've been bred to be lean, tough, and dry. There was a time when hogs used for Smithfield hams were fed (at least finished) on peanuts. The meat was similar in fat to prime beef (the prime beef of that time, not the junk we have today). They've bought up just about everything pork. The only thing pork we buy here now is butts for smoking, and they're nowhere near as good as they used to be. Just about all the places that aren't owned by Smithfield Foods and cure their own country hams buy the fresh meat from Smithfield Foods. In case anybody's interested in a really good country ham, R.M. Felts in Ivor, VA, produces the best we've had in many years. They don't use Smithfield Foods meat. We buy at least 3 a year directly from them. They're on the north side of Rt 460, and you just walk into the processing plant, breathe in all that wonderful pig/smoke, see the 8' high mountain of hams layered in salt, and tell them what size you want. Fortunately we pass by there on the way to and from Duck. They're not open on Sunday, maybe open till noon on Sat, and shut down religiously from 12 to 1 for lunch.
Linda
Powhatan, VA
Duck, NC