I understand that you are concerned about Uncle Joe's suggestion for this year's holiday dinner, and I realize that having wild pork instead of ham seems a little crazy, but I think that you should know a little more about his reasoning before dismissing the idea... he might be right. The wild pig is an invasive species. An invasive species is an organism that is not native to the area and has a negative impact on the environment, the economy, or our health. In other words, they are invading the natural way of things, hence the term: “invasive”. The idea came to Uncle Joe after reading an article by Elisabeth Rosenthal. In the article, Rosenthal suggests that the best solution to controlling these pests is to make them part of the American diet. Since wild hog is one of the most harmful invasive species in America, Uncle Joe thinks our family should contribute to the effort by replacing the 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 the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. Feral pigs 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 skins that are dangerous not only to animals, but also to humans. Pigs also have a hard snout that helps them dig up things that grow naturally in the ground. In the article “A Plague of Pigs in Texas,” Morthland states that as pigs destroy native plants, they are making room for invasive plants to take over. Feral pigs are extremely destructive to the environment... middle of paper... and to humans too. Obviously there are 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 grow crops and make a profit. Imagine if there were hundreds of pigs trampling the farm, tearing up the plants and scaring the animals. His suggestion may seem out of the ordinary, but after doing some research and learning how dangerous pigs are, I think he's right. By eating a wild pig for dinner each year, we help reduce the number of pigs in the area. If you're worried about the taste, it's still pork and should taste great! I think we should try. I disagree with Uncle Joe on many things, but this time he has a great idea. I hope you agree and decide to cook wild pig for our holiday dinner. See you then!