Farmer John Pig Mural

A few months ago a friend called me and said, "let's do something random."

"Okay," I said as I picked up my trusty Lonely Planet Guide (the best travel guide series I've yet to find) to Los Angeles. I flipped aimlessly through the pages and landed on the Farmer John Pig Mural. Of course that caught my eye. What exactly was a "pig mural?" Turns out that it's exactly what it sounds like: a mural of pigs. If that isn't random enough, said mural is painted across the entirety of a factory for the Farmer John company which makes....pork products.

A pig mural was random enough to satisfy my friend's need for randomness, so we set out that afternoon for picturesque Vernon, CA. If you've never been to Vernon, you haven't missed anything (except, of course, for the Farmer John Pig Mural). Vernon is just south of downtown LA and consists of nothing but warehouses and factories. It honestly is one of the ugliest places I've ever seen. And to add to its charm, it sits on the scenic LA River.

Although there was no shortage of factories, finding the Farmer John factory was no problem, on account of the giant mural. The factory was probably about 100 by 150 yards, or in other words: big, and the mural covered the entire wall that wrapped around the complex and every exterior wall of every building. The whole mural came across as an exercise in contradiction; the grassy countryside depicted in industrial Vernon and pigs happily frolicking on the walls of a meat processing plant.

We must have spent at least half an hour exploring every inch of that mural. I've seen murals before and I've seen factories, but that was my first time seeing both together. The experience had just the right amount of weird to make an afternoon on a sidewalk outside a factory fun. You really should go check it out.

And the best part: the whole place smelled like bacon.


Farmer John Pig Mural
3049 E. Vernon Ave.
Vernon, CA 90058