pigs in history

     Two hundred years ago, people who kept pigs let them run loose to forage for food. The pigs ate acorns and roots most of the time. The people who kept them fed then "slops" sometimes--kitchen leftovers that would go in a compost pile today. When they put out the slops, they called the pigs-often with the famous cry of "soo--ey". The pigs would come running, knowing that they were going to get a meal without the work of rooting  through the woods. If the people wanted some tasty pork chops or bacon,  when the pigs showed up to be fed they conked one of them on the head.  It seems mean, when the pigs were so happy with their slops, but the remaining pigs came the next time someone called.