OREM -- Sometimes an elementary school principal like Melinda Looman of Northridge Elementary has to make tough decisions -- like whether she'd prefer to swallow an earthworm or kiss a pig after lunch Wednesday.
Looman chose the latter after the school Parent Teacher Association offered her the choice.If the students raised at least $5,000 for the PTA, Looman agreed to kiss the 4-month-old Yorkshire pig -- directly on the snout.
Sure enough, they raised $6,500. So Looman gathered up her courage Wednesday, grabbed the pink piglet's face and went for it.
Not once, but three times, full on the lips -- er, snout edges.
"I can't believe you would do this to me," she told a lunchroom full of cheering, laughing children all singing, "Kiss the pig! Kiss the pig!" to the tune of "Kiss the Girl" from Walt Disney's "Little Mermaid."
"It's so gross," she said, after the swine and she became closer friends.
The pig doesn't have a name. He is destined to become bacon after he grows a bit.
In the meantime, he lives in Lindon on the farm owned by the former principal of Northridge, Karl Bowman.
Looman is just the latest in a series of principals who've kissed a pig or eaten a worm for the sake of educational fun.
Earlier, Steve Cherrington of Cedar Ridge Elementary, teacher John Krutsch and parent Lou Halls, ate and drank live worms, much to the delight oftheir student body after the kids read 5,000 books and raised $5,000 for their PTA.
Dr. Joe Miner, director of the county health department for Utah County, says there really isn't much reason to be concerned over the fad of asking someone to kiss a pig or swallow a worm for a good cause.
Worms are basically akin to eating common dirt, he said, and generally animals like pigs do not spread their particular viruses or disease germs to humans.
"It's not really sanitary and I guess psychologically it can be pretty bad, but there's not much concern among health officials about it," he said.
Miner would, however, recommend sticking to kissing relatively clean barnyard animals over kissing wild boar or squirrels or anything like a skunk or raccoon.
"They can carry plague and fleas," he said.
The only real danger with pigs is in eating poorly cooked or raw meat. That's where the prions (mutated brain proteins) for mad cow disease or the trichinosis bacteria can harbor.