为什么中国农民更喜欢养猪而不是牛或鸡来生产肉类？
Why do farmers in China prefer raising pigs over cows or chickens for meat production?
译文简介
首先，在中国的漫长历史中，牛肉在大部分时间里都是非法的。直到20世纪之前，对于这个以农民定居为主的社会而言，耕牛（黄牛或水牛）就像是“劳动力担当”和人类最好的朋友。在此之前，历代强盛的中国王朝都会以各种方式惩处私自屠宰耕牛和食用牛肉的行为，因为这被认为是有违社会利益的。你可以将其类比为狩猎采集文明或游牧文明中“食犬”的行为。
正文翻译
Jesuan Wu
First, beef was illegal in much of China’s history. The ox or buffalo was the "work horse" and man’s best friend for China’s farmer settler society until the 20th century. Prior to that, every successful Chinese regime penalized the private killing of ox and eating of beef in one way or another, as it was considered anti-society. You can kind of compare it as eating dogs in a hunter gatherer or herder civilization.
This is the typical childhood of Chinese children, until industrialization in the second half of 20th century.
首先，在中国的漫长历史中，牛肉在大部分时间里都是非法的。直到20世纪之前，对于这个以农民定居为主的社会而言，耕牛（黄牛或水牛）就像是“劳动力担当”和人类最好的朋友。在此之前，历代强盛的中国王朝都会以各种方式惩处私自屠宰耕牛和食用牛肉的行为，因为这被认为是有违社会利益的。你可以将其类比为狩猎采集文明或游牧文明中“食犬”的行为。
直到20世纪下半叶工业化开启之前，这就是典型的中国孩子所成长的背景环境。
Chinese do eat beef and are eating a lot more of it now, but it’s still not as developed as a culture and that our ox breeds were bred for stamina and toughness rather than the tenderness of their meat.
Now between chicken and pig, Chinese raise them both and I would assume that chicken is the second most popular meat in China. The pigs became more popular maybe because they were lower maintanance. Like dogs, they eat everything including feces and they have intelligence similar to dogs too. You’d have to watch out for your chicken but you can set loose your pigs in the village and expect them to come home for sleep.
虽然中国人确实食用牛肉，而且现在的消费量也在大幅增加，但相关的牛肉文化仍不算发达；此外，我们的耕牛品种在培育上更注重耐力和强韧度，而非肉质的鲜嫩。
至于鸡和猪，中国人这两种都养，我推测鸡肉应该是中国第二大受欢迎的肉类。而猪之所以变得更加普及，或许是因为它们更易于打理。和狗一样，猪什么都吃（甚至包括粪便），而且它们的智力也与狗不相上下。你得时刻盯着自家的鸡，但却可以把猪在村子里散养，并指望它们自己回家睡觉。
First, beef was illegal in much of China’s history. The ox or buffalo was the "work horse" and man’s best friend for China’s farmer settler society until the 20th century. Prior to that, every successful Chinese regime penalized the private killing of ox and eating of beef in one way or another, as it was considered anti-society. You can kind of compare it as eating dogs in a hunter gatherer or herder civilization.
This is the typical childhood of Chinese children, until industrialization in the second half of 20th century.
首先，在中国的漫长历史中，牛肉在大部分时间里都是非法的。直到20世纪之前，对于这个以农民定居为主的社会而言，耕牛（黄牛或水牛）就像是“劳动力担当”和人类最好的朋友。在此之前，历代强盛的中国王朝都会以各种方式惩处私自屠宰耕牛和食用牛肉的行为，因为这被认为是有违社会利益的。你可以将其类比为狩猎采集文明或游牧文明中“食犬”的行为。
直到20世纪下半叶工业化开启之前，这就是典型的中国孩子所成长的背景环境。
Chinese do eat beef and are eating a lot more of it now, but it’s still not as developed as a culture and that our ox breeds were bred for stamina and toughness rather than the tenderness of their meat.
Now between chicken and pig, Chinese raise them both and I would assume that chicken is the second most popular meat in China. The pigs became more popular maybe because they were lower maintanance. Like dogs, they eat everything including feces and they have intelligence similar to dogs too. You’d have to watch out for your chicken but you can set loose your pigs in the village and expect them to come home for sleep.
虽然中国人确实食用牛肉，而且现在的消费量也在大幅增加，但相关的牛肉文化仍不算发达；此外，我们的耕牛品种在培育上更注重耐力和强韧度，而非肉质的鲜嫩。
至于鸡和猪，中国人这两种都养，我推测鸡肉应该是中国第二大受欢迎的肉类。而猪之所以变得更加普及，或许是因为它们更易于打理。和狗一样，猪什么都吃（甚至包括粪便），而且它们的智力也与狗不相上下。你得时刻盯着自家的鸡，但却可以把猪在村子里散养，并指望它们自己回家睡觉。
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I still feel the same way, but I make the distinction between Buffalo and Cow. Well, in Thailand, it would be the Water Buffalo, and there are names in Thai that are almost exclusively used as nicknames for a family water buffalo, just like how we give nicknames to other members of our family. You have to be really desperate to eat a named family member.
我仍然有同样的感受，但我会将水牛Buffalo 和牛Cow区分开。在泰国，图片中的那是水牛，而且泰语里有一些名字几乎专门用来给家里的水牛当昵称，就像我们给其他家人起昵称一样。你必须得真到了走投无路的地步，才会去吃掉一个起了名字的家庭成员。（译注：水牛和牛做区分，应该是源于印度的文化，印度文化中水牛也不属于低贱的物种，甚至与恶魔摩希刹有关，不属于神牛。属于可以屠宰使用的动物。）
Weychin Chua
Yes, the water buffalo is known as 水牛, and yellow cattle is known as 黄牛.
是的，ater buffalo被称为水牛，而yellow cattle则被称为黄牛。
Fred Gibbs
When I was growing up we had Pork chop, bacon, and T-bone as pets, and yes they ended up being Pork chops, bacon and t-bone. Once my sister asked what was for dinner and Mom said Bambi’s dad. It was just that generation I guess.
在我成长的过程中，我们养过名叫“猪排”、“培根”和“丁骨”的宠物，没错，它们最后真的变成了猪排、培根和丁骨牛排。有一次我妹妹问晚饭吃什么，妈妈说是“斑比的爸爸”。我想那只是那一代人的做法吧。
HANDRI
That's due to economy of scale. You need a smaller apace to feed pigs. You need a big glass land to farm cattles
那是由于规模经济的原因。养猪只需要较小的空间，而养牛则需要大片的草地。
Cheng
I also sat on the back of a cow to herd cattle when I was a child.
我小时候也曾骑在牛背上去放牛。
Jesuan Wu
I envy you.
我真羡慕你。
Mihir Chaudhari
When I was a kid, I was kicked by an ox in my grandfather's cattleshed. I never enjoyed the smell of freshly extracted cow milk.
当我还是个孩子的时候，我在祖父的牛棚里被一头公牛踢过。我从来都不喜欢刚挤出来的牛奶的味道。
Jesuan Wu
I only discovered the term "lactose-intolerance" when I got to 30. Had been called a spoiled brat all my childhood for disliking milk.
直到我30岁的时候，我才发现“乳糖不耐受”这个词。我整个童年都因为不喜欢喝牛奶而被叫做娇生惯养的小屁孩。
Mihir Chaudhari
I love milk otherwise, I don't have lactose intolerance. It was the smell of the oil they used to grease the udder before milking the cow. The packaged milk of the cities which I was habitual of drinking never stank. I find Buffalo milk tastier and richer than the cow milk.
除此之外我其实很喜欢牛奶，我没有乳糖不耐受。那是他们在给牛挤奶前，用来润滑乳房的油的味道。我习惯喝的城市里的盒装奶从来没有那股臭味。我觉得水牛奶比牛奶更好喝、更浓郁。
——
Robert Matthews (馬學進)
So when exactly did Sichuan beef noodles become widely available in mainland China? The ox or buffalo was … man’s best friend … until the 20th century. Indeed, the older generation in Taiwan (such as my mother in law, whi grew up in rural Taidong) do not eat beef. We have been told that beef noodles were brought over by KMT soldiers, but you are saying that beef noodles were a 20th century invention? In other words, mainlanders had only been eating beef for one or two generations? Can you provide any documented lixs?
那么四川牛肉面到底是什么时候在中国大陆普及开来的呢？直到20世纪之前，牛或水牛一直是人类最好的朋友。的确，台湾（地区）的老一辈人（比如我那在台东农村长大的岳母）是不吃牛肉的。我们一直被告知牛肉面是由国民党士兵带过去的，但你的意思是牛肉面是20世纪的发明吗？换句话说，大陆人吃牛肉才不过一两代人的时间？你能提供任何文献链接吗？
Jesuan Wu
I never knew there was a Sichuan Beef Noodles. Just checked and Google says it’s a Taiwanese dish, created by the Sichuan troops that relocated to Taiwan with the Republic of China government. Probably similar to General Tso’s Chicken.
我从来不知道还有四川牛肉面。刚才查了一下，谷歌说这是一道台湾（地区）菜，是由随中华民国政府迁往台湾（地区）的四川籍士兵创造的。可能跟左宗棠鸡类似。
Robert Matthews (馬學進)
(1) beef noodles were created AFTER soldiers from Sichuan arrived in Taiwan in 1949, BUT … (2) the soldiers missed the beef soup that they used to enjoy in Sichuan. That points to a lack of taboo in parts of China, at least in Sichuan. AI generated answer is partly contradictory. Original source materials (diaries, newspaper clippings, government documents, family photos from BEFORE 1949, etc) would help to clarify.
(1) 牛肉面是在1949年四川士兵到达台湾（地区）之后才被创造出来的，但是…… (2) 那些士兵很怀念他们以前在四川享用的牛肉汤。这说明在中国部分地区，至少在四川，并没有这种禁忌。AI生成的回答有些自相矛盾。但原始素材（日记、报剪、政府文件、1949年之前的家庭照片等）将有助于澄清事实。
Jesuan Wu
Sichuan was at war like for 30 constant years before 1949, and especially when the Japanese attacked, Sichuan sent its men to war. Already in the opening months most family in Sichuan had lost one or more of their men. Most of the time since 1946, those Sichuan soldiers were fighting outside of Sichuan, and definitely those who managed to extract to Taiwan, so maybe they developed the habbit of beef eating else where, where the regions had depopulated and eating beef was second nature. The KMT also had a “scourched earth” policy against the Japanese advance, and also systematically tried to destroy the economy of the communist regions since 1946, and what better way to do those two things than eating the ox whenever they pulled back from a region due to Japanese advance, or whenever they hit a communist controlled town? I wouldn’t immediately assume that eating beef was a very popular custom in Sichuan.
四川在1949年之前持续打了大约30年的仗，特别是当日本人进攻时，四川派兵参战。开战仅几个月，四川的大多数家庭就失去了一个或多个男丁。1946年以后的大部分时间里，这些四川士兵都在川外作战，那些最终撤退到台湾（地区）的士兵肯定也是如此，所以也许他们是在其他地方养成了吃牛肉的习惯，在那些人口流失、吃牛肉已成天性的地区。国民党在面对日军推进时还采取了“焦土政策”，并且自1946年起，他们试图系统性地摧毁gcd地区的经济，还有什么比在日军逼近撤退时，或者在攻入gcd控制的城镇时吃掉耕牛更能实现这两个目标的呢？我不会立刻假设吃牛肉在四川是一种非常流行的习俗。
Robert Matthews (馬學進)
No assumptions on my part. I’m curious, and I don’t trust unsubstantiated claims. Continuous war in one inland province for 30 years 民國八年 → 民國卅八年不停地打仗？ “Eating the ox whenever they pulled back [such as from the Jiangxi Soviet [communist area 閩贛蘇區]” was enough to erase a centuries old eating taboo 1500 km away (the distance from Nanchang to Chengdu)? Color me skeptical.
我没有做假设。我只是好奇，而且我不相信没有根据的说法。一个内陆省份持续30年都在打仗——民国八年到民国三十八年不停地打仗？“每当撤退时就吃掉耕牛（比如从闽赣苏区撤退时）”足以消除1500公里外（南昌到成都的距离）延续了几个世纪的饮食禁忌吗？对此我深表怀疑。
Jesuan Wu
The systematic destruction of the communist regions was more practiced post 1946, during the 1930s the Chinese government only considered the communists running bandits so didn’t resort to such desperate measures. On the 30 years of war part, Sichuan declared itself an independent nation in 1911, together with the other 17 Han majority provinces, and there have been warlordism, as well as fighting with the nearby Tibetans ever since. Sichuan troops only started moving out of the province in large numbers after full scale Japanese invasion in 1937 though.
对gcd地区的系统性破坏更多是在1946年以后实施的，在20世纪30年代，民国政府只把gcd看作流窜的土匪，所以没有采取这种极端手段。关于30年战争的部分，四川在1911年与其它17个汉族占多数的省份一同宣布独立，从那以后就一直存在军阀割据以及与附近藏区的战斗。不过，川军直到1937年全面抗战爆发后才开始大规模出川。
Robert Matthews (馬學進)
Thank you for the added details.
感谢补充这些细节。
Feng Lu
I did some research. This Taiwanese Sichuan beef noodles was created by mainland Sichuan soldiers who came to Taiwan in 1949. However, it has nothing to do with traditional beef, nor is it a traditional Chengdu, Sichuan noodle dish. Its origins are: 1. At the time, Taiwan didn't have much beef, but it had plenty of canned beef and flour from the US military. 2. The Sichuan soldiers in the military dependents' villages found the canned beef unpalatable; so they referenced the traditional Chengdu, Sichuan method of making spicy red broth sauce, using broad beans and chili peppers from Gangshan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to create Gangshan spicy bean paste. 3. They used Gangshan spicy bean paste as the soup base and handmade the noodles, combining them to create Taiwanese Sichuan beef noodles. 4. During Taiwan's economic boom in the 1960s and 70s, with abundant resources, the beef noodles evolved from canned beef to fresh beef shank and brisket, and the flavor also expanded from simple braised to include clear broth, tomato, and other variations, becoming a representative national dish of Taiwan.
我做了一些研究。这种台湾（地区）的四川牛肉面是由1949年到台湾（地区）的大陆四川籍士兵创造的。然而，它与传统的牛肉没有关系，也不是传统的四川成都面食。它的起源是：1. 当时台湾（地区）并没有多少牛肉，但有大量来自美军的牛肉罐头和面粉。2. 眷村里的四川士兵觉得牛肉罐头不好吃，于是他们借鉴了四川成都传统的红汤制作方法，利用台湾（地区）高雄冈山的蚕豆和辣椒，研制出了冈山辣豆瓣酱。3. 他们用冈山辣豆瓣酱作为汤底，再加上手擀面，结合在一起创造出了台湾（地区）四川牛肉面。4. 在20世纪六七十年代台湾（地区）经济腾飞时期，由于物资充裕，牛肉面从罐头牛肉演变成了新鲜的牛腱肉和牛腩肉，口味也从简单的红烧发展出了清炖、番茄等多种变化，成为了台湾（地区）具有代表性的国民美食。
Schtickyrice
And why did Sichuanese troops consider beef a taste of home? 自贡盐帮菜 Look it up.
那为什么四川军队会把牛肉当成家乡的味道呢？去查查“自贡盐帮菜”吧。
CS Yoong
Pork is a relatively healthy meat, if you can get rid of the pathogens first. Cos less cholesterol than beef and mutton, and less hormones than chicken. And taste much better too. Probably the cause why Chinese civilization has lasted for 5000 yrs and will continue for another 5000 more.
只要能先去除病原体，猪肉其实是相对健康的肉类。因为它的胆固醇比牛肉和羊肉低，激素比鸡肉少。而且味道也更好。这可能就是中华文明能延续五千年，并将再延续五千年的原因吧。
Zhun-Yong Ong
You’d have to watch out for your chicken but you can set loose your pigs in the village and expect them to come home for sleep. Don't pigs escape and become feral when they have the chance?
你得盯着自家的鸡，但却可以把猪在村子里散养，并指望它们自己回家睡觉。难道猪一有机会不会逃跑并变成野猪吗？
Jesuan Wu
That does happen. But in many villages they did just let loose their pigs to go eat garbage or anything they could find.
确实会发生那种情况。但在许多村庄，人们确实会放走自家的猪，让它们去吃垃圾或任何能找到的东西。
Lina Pegu
No !!! If you feed them daily once a day with a mix of kitchen scrap and rice bran they don’t run away
才不会！如果你每天用厨房剩菜和米糠的混合物喂它们一次，它们就不会跑掉。
Andy Boyd
Pigs can also be used for leather, making cows unnecessary in that way also.
猪皮也可以用来制革，这样一来在皮革需求方面也不一定非要用牛。
Philip L
Don’t assume that Europeans eat much meat before industrialization. They ate far less pork and chicken, somewhat similar amount of beef as Chinese, nobody in the agricultural societies eat beef as primary protein, it’s only after agricultural productivity improved so much that cattle weren’t useful as plowing tools.
不要以为欧洲人在工业化之前吃很多肉。他们吃的猪肉和鸡肉要少得多，牛肉的摄入量和中国人差不多。在农业社会，没有人把牛肉当作主要的蛋白质来源，只有在农业生产力大幅提高、耕牛不再被当作耕作工具之后，情况才发生了变化。
TC Quah
Now that the Chinese are eating more beef, where do these beef come from - I know most are imported, but has China been developing her own cattle farming industry?
既然现在中国人吃更多的牛肉，那么这些牛肉是从哪里来的呢？我知道大部分是进口的，但中国一直在发展自己的肉牛养殖业吗？
L. Moore
China is the 4th largest beef producer. South America (Brazil, Argentina) for imported beef sources.
中国是第四大牛肉生产国。进口牛肉的来源主要是南美洲（巴西、阿根廷）。
Dong An
China is the third largest beef producer, the second largest beef consumer, and the largest beef importer. However, due to its large population, per capita beef consumption in China is not high.
中国是第三大牛肉生产国、第二大牛肉消费国和最大的牛肉进口国。然而，由于人口众多，中国的人均牛肉消费量并不高。
L. Moore
You are correct. China is 3rd not 4th in beef production.
你是对的。中国的牛肉产量排第三，而不是第四。
TC Quah
Thanks!
谢谢！
Jesuan Wu
China is raising its own beef too, with imported breeds from abroad.
中国也在用国外引进的品种自行养殖肉牛。
Samuel
I hope olive farmers in Gansu can also produce Olive Wagyu alongside olive oil.
我希望甘肃的橄榄农户在生产橄榄油的同时，也能产出橄榄和牛。
Robert Matthews (馬學進)
To avoid consuming American beef* Taiwan imports some beef from Paraguay. *Another food mystery. Uncle Sam insists that Taiwan MUST import ractopamine-laced meat … BUT restaurants prominently post signs indicating that they DO NOT serve such c.r.a.p. ;-) Dog food is imported, so I wonder who eats the meat treated with Safe and Effective™ Chemicals? Prison inmates? Soldiers? Poor people who can only afford the cheapest meat? Probably all of the above: people who don’t ask questions (and wouldn’t get honest answers if they did).
为了避免食用美国牛肉，台湾（地区）从巴拉圭进口了一些牛肉。另一个食品之谜是：山姆大叔坚持认为台湾（地区）必须进口含莱克多巴胺（瘦肉精）的肉类……但餐厅都醒目地张贴告示，表示他们不提供这种垃圾。既然宠物食品是进口的，那我在想是谁吃了这些经过“安全且有效”化学物质处理的肉？监狱囚犯？士兵？还是那些只买得起最便宜肉类的穷人？大概以上皆是：那些不闻不问的人（即使他们问了，也得不到诚实的回答）。
Curious
India used to export a lot of beef to China. India is the third biggest exporter of beef in the world.
印度过去常向中国出口大量牛肉。印度是世界第三大牛肉出口国。
Nguyen Cao Huy
i’m not really sure about China but here in vietnam, buffalo meat used to be much more common than beef. i’m pretty sure only until the French occupation of our country that beef starts to become more popular. and as you says, buffalo and cows are pretty much the work horse, so we only eat them when they are at the end of their life. the meat is usually tough and also has little fat. i guess that’s why most asian beef recipes involves cutting / slicing beef into thin piece or cubes or else it’s basically inedible.
我不确定中国的情况，但在越南，水牛肉过去比牛肉要常见得多。我敢肯定，直到法国占领我国之后，牛肉才开始变得更加流行。正如你所说，水牛和牛几乎就是“劳动力担当”，所以我们只有在它们生命终了时才会吃掉它们。这种肉通常很硬，而且脂肪很少。我想这就是为什么大多数亚洲牛肉食谱都要将牛肉切成薄片或小方块，否则基本没法吃。
Jesuan Wu
Yes. I think the breeding was probably a major issue. When they’re raised for toughness and stamina, they would not get the name for being a good source of meat.
是的。我认为育种可能是一个主要问题。当它们是为了强韧度和耐力而饲养时，就不会被视为优质的肉类来源。
Subhas Nath
Quite similar to how beef avoidance started kn Indian culture / Hinduism. Additionally, in India from around 1000-1500 BC vegetarianism became hugely popular from spiritual point of view. So, milk and milk products like paneer became the primary source of high quality protein. Killing cows was hugely detrimental to milk production. So, even for tbose people who remained non vegetarian, eating beef became taboo or made illegal for the benefit of the whole society (where most others were vegetarian and dependent on milk).
这与印度文化或印度教中避食牛肉的起源非常相似。此外，在公元前1000年到1500年左右的印度，素食主义从精神层面变得非常流行。因此，牛奶和奶制品（如奶酪）成为了高质量蛋白质的主要来源。宰杀母牛对牛奶生产是非常不利的。所以，即使对于那些仍然非素食的人来说，为了整个社会的利益（当时大多数人是素食者并依赖牛奶），吃牛肉也变成了禁忌或被定为非法。
Lorrin Bird
Is beef and broccoli an American creation? Did the U.S. used to supply Korea with cattle for gourmet meals?
西兰花炒牛肉是美国发明的吗？美国过去是否曾向韩国供应肉牛用于制作美食？
Peter Chan
Beef and broccoli was an adaptation because they couldn’t find a vegetable called Jielan.
西兰花炒牛肉是一种改良做法，因为他们当时找不到一种叫芥兰的蔬菜。
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Josh Brueggen
Chicken and Pigs are both more space and feed efficient and can be raised in confined conditions near ports where grain to feed them is shipped in from worldwide, and where other edible wastes from cities are available. Cattle, at least cow/calf operations, require much more space, and even if China bought feeder calves and brought them to China many would sicken and die during transit or simply perform poorly. Simply put, beef requires great amounts of grassland to do well, and China does not have a large surplus of that.
鸡和猪在空间和饲料效率上都更高，可以在港口附近的封闭条件下饲养，那里可以运进来自世界各地的谷物饲料，还有城市产生的其他可食用废弃物。至于牛，至少是母牛/小牛的养殖业务，需要大得多的空间；即使中国购买架子牛并运回国内，许多牛也会在运输途中生病死亡，或者干脆长势不佳。简单来说，养牛需要大量的草场才能长得好，而中国并没有大量过剩的草场。
Rob Warner
Beef costs ten times as much as pork … to raise … if you consider the cost of feed, housing, etc. ergo beef is considered a luxury food in China. The stigma is even worse in India where Hindus consider it a sin to eat beef. That is because cattle are expensive, so were only only owned by the brahman ruling class. Cattle also produce milk, manure (cooking) and leather, so cattle can be taxed multiple ways. In comparison, North American style beef production requires massive amounts of grain, etc. Finally, beef is more difficult to digest.
如果考虑到饲料、圈舍等成本，养牛的成本是养猪的十倍……因此在中国，牛肉被视为一种奢侈食品。在印度，这种忌讳甚至更深，印度教徒认为吃牛肉是一种罪过。这是因为牛很昂贵，所以过去只有婆罗门统治阶层才拥有牛。牛还能产奶、提供粪便（用于烹饪）和皮革，因此可以对牛征收多项税收。相比之下，北美风格的牛肉生产需要消耗大量的谷物。最后，牛肉也更难消化。
Ismael Arinas
Studies about ancient Europe show that until conquered by the Romans, in the Iberian Peninsula, most people raised pigs and goats. Beef is more expensive to raise and choosier in terms of eating. Oxen and cows were the tractors. Cows were useful for cheese, but you could do with a couple of them. Pork can be used in almost its entirety for preserving (different types of sausages, ham, blood, skin, lard, etc). Goats produce kids faster than cows produce calves and cheaper. Goat’s meat can be easily dried. Goats produce milk that easily becomes cheese and would eat almost any vegetable for producing the milk. Chickens, until the industrial raising techniques ot the 20th century were actually a relative luxury and got ill easily and catastrophically. I presume that China is not going to have cows that grow faster and eat almost anything and that chicken where raised in modern 21st century farms with loads of cheap grain, constant light and abundant antibiotics. It may have stuck as a tradition and current demand may be biased towars pork.
对古代欧洲的研究表明，在被罗马人征服之前，伊比利亚半岛的大多数人饲养的是猪和山羊。牛肉的饲养成本更高，而且对食物更加挑剔。公牛和母牛当时就是“拖拉机”。母牛对制作奶酪很有用，但养上一两头就够了。猪肉几乎可以全部用于防腐保存（各种香肠、火腿、血、皮、猪油等）。山羊产仔比母牛产犊更快，也更便宜。山羊肉很容易晒干。山羊产的奶很容易变成奶酪，而且它们几乎能吃任何植物来产奶。直到20世纪的工业化养殖技术出现之前，鸡实际上相对算是一种奢侈品，而且很容易生病，一旦生病就是毁灭性的。我推测中国以前也不会有那种长得快且几乎什么都吃的牛，而鸡则是在现代21世纪的农场里，靠着大量廉价谷物、持续光照和充足的抗生素养大的。这可能已经成为一种传统，导致目前的需求倾向于猪肉。
Andrew Wert
Pigs are low maintenence and grow to adulthood quickly. Cows produce milk/cheese; chicken produce eggs/kill insects/ help spread manure; sheep produce fleece. Pigs only produce meat, all farm animals produce leather except chickens. But pigs can be fed off table scraps and cheap feed, requiring no grazing land; have multiple piglets per birth (6+), and those piglets are ready for harvest after only a year or two of growth.
猪易于打理且成年很快。牛产奶和奶酪；鸡产蛋、消灭昆虫、帮助散布粪便；羊产羊毛。猪只产肉，除了鸡以外，所有的农场动物都产皮革。但猪可以用剩菜剩饭和廉价饲料喂养，不需要放牧草地；每胎能产多头小猪（6头以上），而且这些小猪只需要生长一两年就可以出栏了。