Whether driven by a desire to cut down on the grocery bill or a wish for better input into how food is produced, Kiwis all around the country are raising pigs destined for the freezer.
The reality is that pigs are hungry beasts. A pig can eat up to 3.5kg of food in one day, so to cut back on costs many lifestyle pig-owners try to find a local supplier of food scraps to feed their animals.
Lifestyle farmer Todd Haswell says: "We don't have to buy the pigs much in terms of pellets, because we've got a great set-up with the local vege shop that gives us their scraps two days a week.
"They give us all sorts of stuff. Leaves from the outside of lettuces, stuff that's starting to get rot marks or going a bit floppy, tomatoes that are not good enough to sell in the shop."
Though food scraps can make up part of a pig's balanced daily diet, Ministry for Primary Industries manager of animal import and export Howard Pharo says it's important for pig-owners to understand the rules that apply to feeding their animals food scraps.