Jonathan Secchiaroli
Waterford native and 4th generation pig farmer, Jonathan studied animal science at the University of Connecticut. In 2010, he became the sole proprietor of the family owned agricultural/ recycling business that began in 1911. His daily routines include ensuring wellness of the animals, customer satisfaction, and compliance with the United States Department of Agriculture.
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Having a passion for animal welfare, Jonathan was also briefly employed as a Lab animal technician, where he was able to broaden his animal husbandry skills beyond just farm animals. That experience along with his farming background and education make Jonathan a well rounded swine herdsman who is always willing to help out a fellow animal lover.
When he is not found on a tractor or taking care of pigs on the farm, he enjoys spending time on the never ending farm improvement projects, watching movies with his wife and spending time with his growing family, including his Australian Cattle Dogs. In the summer, the family can be found attending the local agricultural fairs.
Hazel Secchiaroli
Hazel is a San Diego native who graduated with a degree in Psychology at San Diego State University. She developed a love for pig farming after meeting Jonathan in 2000 and relocating to Waterford. In addition to supporting the family farm, Hazel has a full time job in the pharmaceutical industry which has also enabled her to further her education by completing her MBA from the University of Rhode Island.
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Hazel has developed a passion for the local food movement and involves herself by supporting local organizations whenever time allows. She is currently serving as board member on the Northeast Pork Association. In the summer, you can find Hazel at the farmers markets in Waterford.
In her spare time (does a mother of three have any?), she enjoys gardening, singing, going to the beach, and watching baseball games.
Future Pig Farmers in Training
Jonathan and Hazel have twin boys, Alessandro and Giulio who will one day surpass their old man in their ability to shovel poop.
In addition, they have a daughter, Amelia, who absolutely loves going for walks around the family farm, and helping out at the farmer's market.
The children enjoy learning about pigs and are eager to help at the farm when they can.
Our History
Our farming roots began in northern Italy. Born Dec. 20, 1886, Alessandro Girolamo Giovanni Secchiaroli was the son of sharecropping farmers, Crescentino and Teresa Pierpaali Secchiaroli. He was born in the village of Monte Porzio near the city of Ancona, which lies on the eastern coast of Italy, not far from the Adriatic Sea. His parents were Marchegiani, meaning from the province of Le Marche, an area known for its wineries. When Alessandro was still young, they moved to a nearby village, Corinaldo. On land owned owned by a hospital, his parents raised grapes and other fruit, chickens, cows and pigs, and gave half the produce to the hospital.
In 1904, at the age of 18, he took a ship from Bremen, Germany, to New York. "I came over the United States like the other people did, to try to make a better living." he said. He went to live with his brother-in-law in an Italian community on Plum Island, a small island at the eastern end of Long Island. With the other Italians, he worked for the government on the construction of Fort Terry. The job ended after four years, and he decided to move to another Italian community in New London, CT and look for work there.
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He lived on Walbach Street, the heart of the northern Italian community. The gas and smoke in the foundry drove him out four years later, sick from breathing them.
When he left the foundry, he wanted more than anything clean, country air again, the air of his boyhood.
So in 1911, he bought land on Miner Lane in Waterford, where he started a chicken and dairy farm, and a piggery and refuse business.
He also operated the city piggery at the same time, which was formerly on the site of Clark Lane Junior High. Once established in his business, he considered himself ready to get married. His first wife, Redenta Montesi, was also Italian, and together they raised three sons, Guido, Gino, and Julio.
Alessandro turned the business over to his sons, Guido, Gino, and Julio who managed it until the 1980s. Alessandro died in 1978, at the age of 92. The farm passed down to the 3rd generation, Thomas Secchiaroli Sr., until his retirement in 2010.
Today, the farming legacy is carried on by Alessandro's great-grandson (4th generation),Jonathan Secchiaroli.
Our Operations
Environmentally Responsible
Did you know that over 6 million tons of discarded food goes to waste in U.S. landfills every year? We are a family farm that collects unused food scraps from local eateries such as restaurants and college cafeterias. We help the environment by recycling the food for swine consumption, which in turn provides quality meat products for you! Our animals are not given growth hormones and are raised free of unnecessary antibiotics. The waste that the animals produced is collected in areas to be composed and then returned back to our gardens or yours.
Feeding Food Waste as a Feed Stuff
Good human food today is great hog food tomorrow. Left over food that was good for human consumption is a valuable resource as a feed stuff for hogs because its economical, resourceful, and nutritionally viable to the natural diets of swine. Economically, it is a way to feed hogs at a lower cost than the traditional diet of corn and soy. But corn and soy wasn't always the traditional way to feed hogs. In fact, feeding food waste has a much longer history with swine than grain does. It wasn't until very modern industrialization that hogs were fed just corn and soy. Everything before that for domesticated pigs was food waste or the natural diet of feral hogs which is everything on the ground including other animals.
Feeding food waste is resourceful because of the actual process. You take food out of the waste stream and re-use it. Recycling! Tossed out food contributes to our global problem of pollution so why not do the right thing and make some hogs happy? They absolutely love it. Food waste is nutritionally viable for swine because they are omnivores just like you and I. What we can eat so can they. Besides, who wants a dish of plain white rice or grain when you can have a dish of white rice as a side of a fillet and au-groton potatoes? mmmmm.. The one downfall for food waste as a feed stuff for swine is that you can't control the percentages of vitamins, minerals, proteins and other important contributions of a nutritional diet. However, a well managed food waste facility knows this and supplements accordingly at the different stages of the pigs life. Most importantly, this time period is when the sows are lactating, and when the piglets are weaned.
Animal Husbandry Practices
Our pigs not only eat well but they are housed humanely and treated respectfully. They have access to fresh clean water even though they may choose to do so differently. We farrow our sows in 6x9 concrete pens that are cleaned every day if not more than once a day. They are bedded with the finest white pine shavings that are available. The shavings act as cushion for bedding and as an absorbent material for any wetness that may collect throughout a 24 hour time period. The shavings also allow the sow to exhibit natural farrowing behavior of nesting at the time right before birthing occurs.
After the litter is born, the sows and their piglets remain in their pen for up to six weeks. After the four to six week lactation time period, the piglets are weaned and removed from their mother to have their own pen for a period of approximately one to two weeks. This is so that they can adjust to not having their mother as a source of nutrition. Three to five days after weaning the sow is returned to their outside paddock to be bred again. The piglets remain in the barn for an additional two to four weeks andusually get supplemented with grain. This is done to compensate forproteins that they would have been receiving from their mothers milk. At theappropriate time, usually between two and three months old, the pigs moveto outside shelters or place directly into their own paddock where they have room to grow, be free, and be one with mother earth.
Most of our paddocks have been wiped clean of almost all of their vegetation especially during the colder months due to the fact that we havebeen continually raising pigs in these areas for nearly one hundred years. However we do allow the lots to rest and regenerate so that the pigs going into those areas have a clean and natural place to grow. They love to root up rocks, wallow in mud holes, and run around when they feel a little frisky. Each area has old trailers that shelter the pigs either for sleeping or during inclement weather.
Licensed and Inspected
We are a licensed food scrap facility and are inspected by the state of Connecticut and the United States Department of Agriculture to regulate the proper feeding and health of our pigs. Unfortunately, not all farmers that feed food waste to their pigs are licensed to do so. In Connecticut, it is illegal. Our farm is one of three legal facilities in the state able to have this practice. Our herds health status is monitored and the sows and boars are blood tested by the state to ensure they are free from pseudo-rabies and brucellosis.
Our Practices
We have a daily routine of picking up food waste from local establishments and bringing the cargo back to the farm for further processing. This ensures the freshest leftovers possible for our operation. We then have to cook the food to kill any pathogens that may be harmful for the animals. It's quite a simple process but it is time consuming, and it does actually cost a lot of money to be able to do. When fuel prices are high, it directly effects us because our trucks and other equipment run on diesel. One essential piece of equipment we run daily is a massive steam boiler that enables us to inject the food waste barrels with extremely hot steam. By regulations from the USDA, we have to maintain a temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes. After a cooling off time period, the food waste is safe for animal consumption.
A very important part of this process is cleanliness. We try very hard to maintain a clean operation. But it is a pig farm and pigs keep the place generally dirty looking. So we attempt the best we can by washing empty drums that the food is collected in, eliminating any debris that may collect around the farm, and controlling the amount to food fed out to the animals so that spoilage does not occur. These practices prevent or at least keep to a minimum any pest or vermin that could spread diseases harmful to the pigs. Also it allows the animals to act naturally in environments that enhance their over all well being.