A Bureau of Prisons spokesman said the initial decision to take pork off the menu was spurred by the low ratings prisoners gave the product in surveys. Charlie Neibergall/AP hide caption

What is pork roll? As one fan puts it, "It's like Spam meets bacon." This sandwich is one of many ways to eat the processed meat, a largely unsung specialty of New Jersey. via Wikimedia hide caption

Spam is a staple in South Korea's supermarkets. Matt Stiles/NPR hide caption

Workers prepare burritos at a Chipotle Mexican Grill in New York. The restaurant chain has stopped serving pork in about one-third of its U.S. locations. Richard Levine/Demotix/Corbis hide caption

Halal jamón products made with lamb and beef inside the Balkis Gourmet curing room in Cumbres Mayores in Andalusia, Spain. Lauren Frayer for NPR hide caption

Chef Jay Bentley makes his pork schnitzel with panko instead of the more traditional bread crumbs. He gets his pork from growers who raise heritage-style pigs that are allowed to forage outside. Courtesy of Jay Bentley hide caption

Meat is displayed in a case at a grocery store in Miami in July. Pork and beef prices are up more than 11 percent since last summer. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

Michael Yezzi raises 1,000 pigs a year in Shushan, N.Y. He's worried about how to keep his farm safe from a disease that has no proven cure. Abbie Fentress Swanson for NPR hide caption

France has banned imports of live pigs and other products from the U.S. to keep out a virus that has killed more than 4 million pigs in the U.S. Here, young pigs look out of a pen at a North Dakota hog farm in a 2005 file photo. Will Kincaid/AP hide caption

A screen grab from an undercover video released by the Humane Society of the U.S. shows a pig in a gestation crate at Iron Maiden Farms in Owensboro, Ky. Courtesy of The Humane Society of The United States hide caption

Pitmaster Rodney Scott seasons a roasting hog behind a barbecue restaurant in Birmingham, Ala. Scott has been touring the South with a makeshift barbecue pit to raise money to rebuild his family's cookhouse after it burned down in November. Debbie Elliott/NPR hide caption

Piglets at Hilldale Farm in State Center, Iowa in March 2013, just before porcine epidemic diarrhea began spreading through hog farms in the U.S. Amy Mayer/Harvest Public Media hide caption

A traditional Danish pork roast, common for Christmas dinner in Denmark. Pork finds its way into most Danish meals. SNSK2010/via flickr hide caption

Roel Basalm Alim, a cook at Restaurante Botín, displays a plate of cochinillo asado, or roast suckling pig. Lauren Frayer/NPR hide caption

Berkshire pigs on Happy Hula Farm, a member of the Eden Farms collective. Amy Mayer/Iowa Public Radio hide caption