Short answers, pulled from the story.
In 2020, China produced 36,340,000 metric tons of pork, accounting for 37.58% of global pork production. The European Union and the United States ranked second and third, together bringing the top three producers to roughly 76% of world output.
Jewish dietary law prohibits pork based on Leviticus chapter 11 and Deuteronomy chapter 14, which bar consuming animals that possess only one of the two traits of cloven hooves and chewing cud. Islamic dietary law prohibits pork on the basis of several Quranic surahs, with allowance only in cases of genuine necessity.
Pigs were domesticated in Mesopotamia around 13,000 BC. Independently, evidence from Cishan in ancient China places pig domestication there at approximately 8000 BP, or around 6,000 BC.
In 1987, the U.S. National Pork Board launched a campaign positioning pork as "the other white meat" to counter consumer perception that red meat was less healthy than chicken or turkey. The campaign was highly successful, with 87% of consumers able to identify pork with the slogan. The board retired it on the 4th of March 2011.
A total of 109.905 million metric tons of pork were consumed worldwide in 2015. By 2017, half of all pork consumed globally was eaten in China.
Charcuterie is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared pork products including bacon, ham, sausage, pâtés, rillettes, and confit. In 15th-century France, guilds called charcutiers regulated this trade in each city, producing cooked or salted and dried meats that varied by region. Originally a method of preserving meat before refrigeration, these preparations are made today for the flavors the preservation processes create.