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Chef Marc Thuet and his pork supplier have a peculiar communication problem. "We need some of those carrier pigeons so I can send you my orders," Mr. Thuet said during a visit to David Martin's pig farm near Wallenstein, Ont.

"Well, I suppose that could work," the farmer said with a smile.

Mr. Martin is one of the 4,000 Orthodox Mennonites who live in the greater Kitchener-Waterloo area (about 90 minutes west of Toronto). They shun all modern technology, including cars, electricity and telephones.

Which means that when Mr. Thuet's catering business received a recent order from Air Canada for 1,500 kilograms of venison and pork terrine - and he desperately needed to add three more hogs to his standing weekly order - he had no way to get in touch with Mr. Martin. So he had to make a special trip from Toronto, since no other hogs would do.

Last spring, Mr. Martin began feeding his pigs with whey from Monforte Dairy, an artisanal cheese maker in nearby Millbank, Ont. And whey-fed pork is like no other.

Whey is the thin liquid that drains from curds when milk is separated to make cheese. There is a long tradition of feeding it to pigs because they digest it easily and it provides energy, protein, amino acids and minerals. Whey also gives their meat - prized for its tenderness - a gorgeously creamy, nutty flavour. In Parma, Italy, where the famous Prosciutto di Parma ham comes from, pigs are often fed whey from the making of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

While naturally raised, whey-fed pork has become common in high-end U.S. restaurants, it is a relatively new phenomenon in Canada. According to Greg Simpson, a swine nutritionist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, only about 140,000 of the 5.5 million market hogs raised in the province are fed liquid whey. And most of those, he adds, are "on mid- to large-size industrial farms," the kind that are frequently criticized by animal-rights activists for overcrowding and the use of growth hormones and antibiotics.

Mr. Martin's farm is about as far from that as you can get.

Entering his barn is like stepping back in time. There is no electricity. Well water is pumped in by a windmill. Cobwebs (natural dust collectors) drip from the rafters. The only source of heat (more than ample) is the pink pigs that scurry about in large, open pens, greeting newcomers with snuffling curiosity.

"They're not afraid of people because they've never been hurt in their lives," said Mr. Martin, dressed in traditional Mennonite garb of a straw hat, dark-blue shirt and black trousers supported by suspenders. "I feed them by hand and clean their pens, adding fresh straw every day. I try to treat them humanely because it's important to me that they are happy."

Mr. Martin's pigs are crossbreeds, a mix of Yorkshire, for high meat yield, Landrace, for abundant milk, and Duroc, for leanness. He keeps about 130 pigs, from suckling size to market weight, along with 20 sows and one male for breeding.

He started the pigs on the new diet at the suggestion of Ruth Klahsen, owner of Monforte Dairy. The whey, which comes from sheep and goats raised without the use of chemicals, is delivered to their pens through hoses running from a storage tank overhead. "They drink five to six thousand litres a week," Mr. Martin said. "They really like it."

He also feeds them corn, wheat, oats and barley that he grows and mills himself. "I add some soy-based vitamin and mineral supplement," he said.

He never uses chemicals and only uses antibiotics if an individual animal becomes ill, which is rare.

It's no surprise that all of that care and attention comes with a price.

"Pork is becoming a luxury item," said Mr. Thuet, who connected with Mr. Martin after a chance meeting with Ms. Klahsen at Toronto's St. Lawrence Market. "A single piglet now costs me more than a beef rib-eye of the same weight."

Commercially raised pork, he said, costs about 80 cents a pound wholesale, while Mr. Martin's sells for $2 to $2.50 a pound.

It is well worth the cost. On the menu of Bite Me! (formerly Bistro & Bakery Thuet), whey-fed pork features as part of Mr. Thuet's charcuterie: luscious head cheese, tender museau (snout) in truffle vinaigrette, rich cured loin, and rolled belly stuffed with pistachio. Succulent trotters are stuffed with foie gras, and slow-roasted hocks boast crisp skin. Piglets provide impossibly juicy chops, seared loins and tender belly prepared sous vide. The meat is rich and creamy but never cloying.

Mr. Thuet is also making prosciutto: He cured eight large hams in salt for 50 days this fall. "The hams need to age for two years before they'll be ready," he said.

Other chefs are catching on. "Jamie Kennedy took a few pigs, and Mark Cutrara at Cowbell restaurant, and I've sold some to the Healthy Butcher," said Mr. Martin, naming some of Toronto's most locally minded chefs. "But I need a few more customers."

Of course, they shouldn't expect to just pick up the phone and call him.

"They can get in touch through Monforte or Marc," Mr. Martin said. "And, except for Sundays, they can just come to my farm."