Most people know that many different foods come from hogs, such as pork chops, pork roast, ribs, ham, bacon, sausage and pepperoni. But hogs are also used for many non-food products, which are commonly called by-products.

In history class, you may have learned how settlers from other countries and Native Americans used as many parts of animals and plants as they could to make clothes, tools, dishes and other utensils. Making the most of their resources was something these people had to do, since resources were very limited. Not using as many parts as possible of an animal or plant was considered wasteful.

Today, we follow the same practices. We make the most of our resources with a wide variety of pork by-products. In fact, no other animal provides a wider range of products than the hog. From life-saving pharmaceuticals to everyday items, pork by-products are an important part of our daily lives.

Here are some of the life-saving pork by-products provided by the hog:

Health Care Products

• Heart valves (used to treat people with malfunctioning heart valves)
• Insulin (used to treat people with diabetes)
• Skin (used to treat people with severe burns or skin rashes)

Here are just a few of the different pork by-products we use today. Take a scavenger hunt in your house to see how many items you have from the list below.