In my recipe for chile con carne, I gave fresh pork and ham, beef and mutton as possible meat ingredients. I also indicated that the recipes were based on old time Spanish colonial cooking in the northern provinces of Spain in North America. The idea was to indicate that these pioneering settlers used what was available. We have great freedom in our choices.

The use of ham as part of the meat reflects that fresh pork and other fresh meats (I didn't mention venison, bison, hare, etc.) were not always available. Dried meat and cut-up sausage also were used- I haven't tried it, but with proper pre-treatment, the dried meat might be passable.
Try a bit of ham along with the beef or pork sometime - once you have tried it, you may like it.

The "red or green" has meaning in New Mexico (and a couple of places in Arizona that I have tried), where decent green hot chile peppers are raised, especially in the Hatch area. The canned green chili peppers sold in most areas are almost tasteless. Used as a "gravy" over tamales, enchiladas, etc., I like the taste of the green, but the rest of the family prefers red. Some people like thick sour cream on top of this melange. Most restaurants top with melted, oily, second-rate cheddar, which I usually scrape off.

Drift- One morning early in Albuquerque, my daughter feeling queasy and tired of this fare, we looked for a cafe that had "Anglo" food. We looked in several, but all they served were burritos and other Mexican fare. We looked further, and saw the old Posada de Albuquerque hotel. Their fine dining room served "American" as well as the local fare, and we were able to get fresh fruit and hot cereal. I abandoned chile for a light, low-cal breakfast of fruit, an egg, pancakes and real maple syrup, and sausages.