A Hubei butcher hangs out bacon to 'smoke' on three story landing
Pictures of a balcony coated with strips of raw pork have gone viral in China. The local vendor, from Wuhan - the capital of Hubei province, shunned a traditional smoke stack for the stifling smog of the central China city.
Smog-smoked or flavoured the traditional way? Image: Avlxyz |
The images show bacon hung across every rung of the guardrails of his second story apartment, coating the entire exterior in pork.
It is uncertain whether the butcher had considered the regulatory implications of covering his balcony with swine, let lalone the potential hazard to those consuming the smog-cured pork.
China, which already farms just under half of the pigs on the planet, has a penchant for porkers.
Last September, Chinese pork giant Shuanghui, headquartered in Henan province, executed the biggest ever Chinese takeover of a US company. The deal saw Shuanghui buy out $4.7bn of shares in Smithfield, currently the world’s largest pork processor - the pigs being flown East to cater for the nation’s burgeoning demand.
China’s pork imports tripled between 2005 and 2010 to 2m tons, with the government forced to release its frozen pork reserves in 2011 to meet spiralling demand. Import volumes are slated to rocket further in the near future as increasingly affluent consumers buy more meat.