I understand that you are concerned about Uncle Joe's suggestion for this year's holiday dinner, and I realize that eating wild pork instead of ham seems a bit crazy, but I think you should know a little more about his reasoning before ruling out the idea...he may have a good point. The feral hog is an invasive species. An invasive species is an organism that is not native to the region and that has a negative impact on the environment, the economy or our health. In other words, they invade natural functioning, hence the term “invasive”. Uncle Joe had this idea after reading an article by Elisabeth Rosenthal. In the article, Rosenthal suggests that the best solution to controlling these pest species is to incorporate them into the American diet. Since the wild hog is one of the most harmful invasive species in America, Uncle Joe thinks our family should contribute to the effort by replacing our traditional holiday ham with wild hog. These pigs are not native to the United States. It is understood that Christopher Columbus brought them to America as a food source in 1492. Years later, more were brought to America by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. Feral hogs have no natural predators in the United States, so their population continually multiplies from year to year. per year. This is a problem because they are very aggressive creatures. They have long shells that are dangerous not only to animals, but also to humans. Pigs also have sturdy snouts that help them dig up things that grow naturally in the soil. In the article “A Plague of Pigs in Texas,” Morthland states that as pigs destroy native plants, they make way for invasive plants. Feral pigs are extremely destructive to the environment...... middle of paper ... er to humans as well. There are obviously too many feral pigs and something needs to be done to control them. Uncle Joe is responsible for managing the family farm. He knows how difficult it can be to farm land and make a profit. Imagine if there were hundreds of pigs trampling the farm, uprooting the plants and scaring the animals. His suggestion may seem unusual, but after doing some research and learning how much of a threat pigs pose, I think he makes a good point. By hosting a wild hog dinner each year, we help reduce the number of pigs in the area. If you're worried about the taste, it's still porky and should be delicious! I think we should try. I don't agree with Uncle Joe on most things, but this time he has a great idea. I hope you agree and decide to cook wild pork for our holiday dinner. See you soon then!