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It's a well-known fact in the [ever-more ubiquitous] foodiesphere that pork is, like, the thing. Chefs cook it; people eat it, and this proclivity towards cooking and eating pork has gone way beyond a global reverence for bacon. One such chef cooking with pork is Akasha Richmond, the chef of the new eco-focused restaurant Akasha, featured in Alter Eco. Currently Akasha's (ever-changing) menu offers a Heritage country pork chop with Sambazon acai & honey sauce, white bean puree, and wilted greens. That'll set you back $24; I don't know where you live, but California ain't cheap and Heritage pork ain't cheap either.
But alas, what is heritage pork, why do you care, and why is it costing you (probably) more money? If you're like me, you like analogies, despite their pejorative SAT/GRE connotation: Heritage pork is to pig as Kobe beef is to cow (basically). Like Kobe, Heritage goes by different names that, rather than really meaning different things, come from different places or languages or apply to different aspects of what the thing is. So, Kobe also goes as Wagyu. Heritage (a group of purebred farm breeds, feral and rare breed pigs; not conventional large farm pigs) also goes as Berkshire (one of these purebred farm breeds) or Kurobuta (the Berkshire in Japanese). Heritage Pork International (a company) promises their pork is 100% Berkshire, where a second-rate company could sell 50% Berkshire as "Berkshire." In other words, buying Heritage pork often means buying Berkshire pork (the most popular Heritage variety in the U.S.; HPI's is 100% Berkshire), but buying Berkshire pork does not (necessarily) mean buying 100% Berkshire Pork. You'll have to check with the purveyor. There are other reputable purveyors of Berkshire pork, but if you see Heritage on a menu, you know its Berkshire. Got it? OK, Moving on...
Also, like Kobe, Heritage pork is known for its marbleized meat. That means that small amounts of fat are interwoven evenly throughout the entire body of the animal (as opposed to huge globs here and there, or none at all—both bad things). Marbleized meat=tender, juicy, flavorful meat. See, for so long Americans have had a no-fat/low-fat obsession, that fat has actually been bred out of pigs, making the other white meat but one of many flavorless ones (see factory-farmed chicken). But thanks to folks like those at HPI, ancient purebred pigs are being preserved, and with their preservation, the preservation of flavor too.
But it isn't just flavor that makes Heritage pork good; most Heritage pork is "natural" too. That means it is minimally processed and treated with no artificial ingredients (like growth hormones). At HPI, they're also raised with room to move, more humanely than other pigs. So, depending on your barometer of healthfulness—if you prefer chemicals to fat (Heritage pork isn't fatty, it just actually has some fat in it, you see) you'll disagree—Heritage pork is healthier than conventional pork too.
It's also a little more expensive, but if you support the idea that we generally eat too much and don't pay enough for food--or rather prices that reflect what things should cost, like human labor and animals' lives--a few bucks probably doesn't bother you. Consider what you're paying for, though. Berkshire pork, like Pinot Noir, is hard to grow (raise). That makes it more expensive. They grow slow, eat a lot, and produce smaller litters. These things compound to make a more expensive product, but, you know what? We could probably all do to eat less meat (eat less in general) and eat good (yes more expensive) meat when we do eat it. It tastes better, it's better for the planet, it's better for you. It's a no brainer.
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