Not only athletes, but pigs are on a rigorous regimen in China, in preparation for the Beijing Olympics next year. Chinese pigs eat organic, get daily exercise and take Chinese herbal medicine. They do all that in farms carefully chosen to meet water and soil quality criteria. The hogs’ VIP treatment, though, is infuriating Chinese bloggers, The Wall Street Journal* reported today.

These pigs, treated better than “a human in a coal mine,” wrote a Chinese blogger, will feed Olympic athletes both from China and elsewhere. Coming on the heels of recent outbreaks of pork blue-ear disease and the recalled toys fiasco, the case for raising special pigs has been a hard one to swallow for many Chinese.

“Olympic Pigs Doing Exercise Two Hours Every Day” was the headline in the Chinese-language newspaper Beijing News. Bogog, the Olympics organizing committee confirmed that Qianxihe Food Group, or Lucky Crane is the exclusive provider of pork. A member of the panel of experts on food safety for the Olympics said these pigs may be sold to the public after the games. What about the price? It will be probably twice as much as that of potato-couch pigs.

*When it comes to the Olympic Games in Beijing next summer, the Chinese government is taking no chances. From cloud seeding to disperse pollution in the capital, to crackdowns on visa violations to winnow crowds, to a massive construction project aspiring to the grandest of Games infrastructure, Beijing is working strenuously to cover itself with glory come August.