Some five years ago, if you wanted to eat meat in Thika town, you didn't have much choice but to go for the usual goat's meat or beef.
However, things have since changed and changed for the better since the introduction of pork.
For beginners, pork is meat from a pig. Not many people like pigs due to reasons varying from religious to cultural connotations. Pigs are also characterised with dirt and insatiable appetite for everything including their droppings.
Others will say that pigs are greedy animals with seemingly greedy Kenyan MPs being likened to them (MPigs). But for Thika residents, these connotations don't seem to matter much to them as they have embraced pork eating making Thika town synonymous to pork. Pork is now so common in Thika such that the town is sometimes referred to as Pork City by residents.
There are several pork joints in the town than there are any other joints that deals with traditional meat. But why is pork so popular in Thika? 'Thika has no Muslims': Sometimes residents jokingly say that pork is popular in Thika because there are no Muslims. It is a known fact that Muslims loathe pork due to their religious beliefs and pork would not be popular in a Muslim zone.
Thika has many Muslims but residents have to justify the popularity of pork in the town. Pork joint owners also say that many residents believe that pork especially oil extracted from it has a medicinal value as well as protective powers from people with evil eye. Some women apply the oil on their newborns' forehead to protect them from people with the evil eye.
For those who eat pork they will also realise that pork gives you a value for your money. Pork is soft and has got very little to waste unlike other types of meat full of bones. The meat is also extraordinarily sweet as some residents say.
Nutritional concerns have also played a role in making pork popular in Thika. With calls being made on people to avoid red meat and embrace white meat, many residents have found 'solace' in pork which is considered white meat.
For now, as things are, pork will continue to dominate the meat menu in 'Pork City' till perhaps something else more sumptuous comes and replace it.