So is a new trend? (IMAGE WARNING: ROASTING PIG)

[S_B_Jackson]

44. In the south this is very common...

in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas - BBQ is all about the pig. My buddy, a Georgia-native do this every year for 25 years or so. he just builds an above ground pit by using cinder blocks stacked 3 high and covering with a banana leaves and a tarp. Takes about 8 hours once the pig goes on till it's time to dig in.

Personally, I prefer beef but grilled pork is a nice change from time to time...fried turkey is still a "thing" and it's not dangerous at all as long as one does not do so in one's garage or under the eaves of one's house.

Frankly, I'd much prefer my children not assume that meat comes in nice wrapped packages at the grocery store already broken down into butchered parts that aren't recognizable as having come from an animal. I remember when a local burger chain used to have sides of beef hanging in a windowed meat locker that you could see at the counter. Each restaurant employed a butcher to break down the carcasses and to cut the steaks that they served and to grind the beef with which they made their burgers - - - you knew the meat was fresh and it was interesting and educational to watch them go about the work.