Why Pork Tastes Worse: Native Pigs Lose Out in Biological Competition

There are many reasons why pork tastes bad nowadays—like poor freezing techniques or bad cooking—but at its core, it’s mainly because China’s native pig breeds lost out in biological competition and nearly went extinct, leaving the market flooded with foreign pigs with inferior meat quality.

Why did the native breeds lose out? Because they grow slowly, which translates to poor returns on capital, so they were abandoned. Humans are the same: unless you offer something better that can replace you, you’ll simply be used until you’re no longer useful, at which point you’re discarded. The only way to survive is to increase your own utility—which is precisely why life feels so exhausting. Falling behind doesn’t just mean getting hit; it means being wiped out.

Feeling Like Pork Is Getting Worse—Did the Pigs Change, or Have We?