News

South Coast farm stand slammed with negative reviews after pig roast fundraiser

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A South Coast farm stand has been inundated with negative reviews after announcing a fundraiser that included a pig roast.

The Farmer’s Kitchen is located in New Bedford, but owner Michael King said the reviews have been coming from across the globe.

“Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand,” he said. “It was unexpected. And it hurt it was painful.”

King co-sponsored the event with a restaurant owner to help raise money for the Fairhaven Animal Shelter.

“I was amazed at how quickly, I guess you could say, it went viral,” he said. “People were saying there were bugs in the food, there's cockroaches in the building, all these things completely untrue.”

Many of the negative reviews were apparently made by vegans who were offended by the idea of eating meat.

King, who humanely raises pigs on his small farm, was overwhelmed by the response.

“It was so much so fast and so brutal that I thought it was going to put me out of business,” he said.

King's partner in the pig roast was also a target - his restaurant was falsely reviewed through Yelp.

“It was pretty bad.  It was not something I expected to see especially where it's somebody who doesn't know me., never been here before,” Kevin Vasconcellos, owner of Bayside Lounge, said.

King says he got a lot of support from loyal customers, and wishes his Facebook detractors would remember one thing: whether you eat pork, or whether veggies are your thing one seasoning enhances every item on the plate - tolerance.