Stadsvarkens

Stadsvarkens is a volunteer project in the Veldhuizerbos on the western edge of Ede, where three pigs at a time live on a plot of public woodland made available by the municipality, so that people can see where meat comes from.

Since 2021 the pigs have been Tamworths, a hardy English breed with a dense red coat that copes with cold and heat and is suited to living outdoors, preferably in woodland; from 2016 to 2021 the project kept Mangalica pigs. The pigs live in the wood with a simple shelter and are looked after by volunteer helper farmers (hulpboeren), who feed them partly on food collected from local surplus streams. They are slaughtered at about a year and a half, each autumn, and the Tamworth meat is marbled with intramuscular fat.

Anyone who wants meat joins the project's association, becomes a co-owner of the pigs and receives a meat pack after the slaughter; membership is arranged by email. The woodland plot and its footpath are open to walkers, with parking at DTS Ede and the last stretch on foot.

The association exists because the meat may not be sold: the pigs' feed isn't certified as Dutch rules require for pigs whose meat is sold, so on the advice of Wageningen University only the owners eat it.