Sixty percent of San Diego city residences don’t pay a fee for trash collection. Believe it or not, as much as anything else, pigs are the reason.

Our latest San Diego Explained with NBC San Diego tackles why that’s the case. Nearly every other city in California charges a special fee. San Diego’s source is the 1919 People’s Ordinance, which was passed at a time of outrage at private garbage collectors who were making big bucks reselling San Diego’s trash for hog feed.

A big thank you to Curtis Womach and his farm in Boulevard for letting us take video of his pigs. Also, thanks to NBC for letting me wear flannel and jeans on television.

Please contact Liam Dillon directly at liam.dillon@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5663 and follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/dillonliam.

Liam Dillon was formerly a senior reporter and assistant editor for Voice of San Diego. He led VOSD’s investigations and wrote about how regular people...

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