Welcome to Hogtown, a little history - Related Image.
Ever wonder how Toronto got its unusual, if not apt, moniker Hogtown?
Is it because we consume more bacon per capita than any other Canadian city? While that last statement has not been verified, I wouldn't doubt it. Torontonians love their bacon, and other pork products for that matter (anyone for ribs, pulled pork, or fried pork chops?). But there's more to the name than that.
Well on International Pig Day, March 1, I'll try to explain it.
Back in the 1870s, a farmer by the name of William Davies decided he liked the curing and selling of hams and bacon better than actually tending to live animals.
He opened a plant for packing pork at Front and Frederick streets. As his business for the salty, cured pork increased, he began shipping millions of pounds of pork each year.
He is responsible for the development of peameal (a.k.a. Canadian back bacon).
As business boomed, Davies found the need to expand and opened a new plant, this time on the south side of Front Street by the Don River. This new facility accommodated both slaughtering and processing. He used ice from the river to keep his hogs refrigerated. His business grew to become the largest pork packing plant in Canada, as he was shipping his cured meat to England.
Although the depression brought some losses to the business, Canada Packers as the business later became known, helped shaped Toronto into a commercial centre.
Of course, today the waterfront is free of meat packing, but you can still grab yourself a reminder of Davies' Hogtown legacy at the St. Lawrence Market with a Toronto favourite– their famous back bacon on a bun sandwiches.