Early New Yorkers tossed garbage into the street or into one of the rivers. The city stunk. In the absence of organized waste disposal, pigs played an important role in reducing (and reusing and recycling) trash in the city.
Brought to America by European colonists, pigs were commonplace and an important source of food. Without room to house them, hogs were largely left to roam the city foraging for food scraps, which not only kept them alive but also removed waste from the streets. By some estimates, upwards of 20,000 pigs free-ranged on the streets of Manhattan in the early 1820s.
21 Comments
teft@piefed.social · 111 pts · 241d
Today there are 30,000.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Police_Department
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 241d
I wish they acted as street cleaners.
MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 241d
*33,000
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 241d
Then, in 1832, they started spreading rabies, so they were all butchered. That's how the tradition of Christmas ham got its start.
I also have a monorail I can sell you.
edgemaster72@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 241d
Is there a chance the track could bend?
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 241d
Hello sir, I am interested in purchasing one monorail please.
whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works · 24 pts · 241d
Was it really less stinky once the waste is transformed into pig poop?
Mighty@lemmy.world · 34 pts · 241d
Yea, because pigs don't poop where they eat if they have enough space. They will designate a pooping place for their pack(?), which makes it easy to clean
edgemaster72@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 241d
Something something New Jersey [cue laugh track]
FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 241d
lolololol
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 241d
So, free trash collection with extra steps?
Triumph@fedia.io · 10 pts · 241d
There was already a system in place to clear the horse manure, the pig manure just went with it. You can fertilize with manure, less so with trash.
optissima@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 241d
On May 23, 1845, they formed a municipality, today ~34,727 pigs roaming NYCยน
Etterra@discuss.online · 6 pts · 241d
So who cleaned up the pig shit?
Quilotoa@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 241d
What stopped people from snatching them up and eating them?
snooggums@piefed.world · 16 pts · 241d
The same thing that keeps people from stealing all the free cows in fields by the side of the road.
Time, effort, and threat of punishment is enough to discourage most people who consider stealing stuff and pigs are a whole lot of work to steal and eat.
Jerry@feddit.online · 9 pts · 241d
They did eat them. That was part of the cycle.
https://backstory.newamericanhistory.org/episodes/another-mans-treasure/3/#%3A%7E%3Atext=The+pigs%2Cliteral+violence.
Jimbo@pawb.social · 3 pts · 241d
You ever tried to chase a pig?
IWW4@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 241d
And add to the richness of the aroma, everyone used outhouses as well.
Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 241d
How many are on the force now?
mossberg590@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 241d
Germ theory only took off in the 1850s. Just bear that in mind.