According to the StarTribune, if security is high at farmer Lin Yuan's vegetable farm, a premium provider for the Olympic Village, it's even higher at the ranches and livestock pens that will provide meat for the athletes. Pork for Olympic athletes comes from 10 secret pig farms set up far away from cities, state media report. The pigs get two hours of exercise a day, eat organic feed and are monitored around the clock.

Given the extent of such efforts, Chinese officials naturally bristled when they heard athletes from some countries -- the United States and Australia in particular -- were brown-bagging some of their own groceries to the Olympics.

In some ways the matter shows the delicate balance as China tries to overcome long-held foreign suspicions about the safety of its food without stirring up citizens, who may wonder why even the pigs get such special treatment when it comes to what's served to foreigners.

View the StarTribune story by clicking here.