Have you heard about the impending bacon shortage that we’re facing?
- Global Bacon Shortage “Unavoidable” (via CBS News)
- Save Your Bacon (via Wired)
- (my favorite) Pork Shortage Causes Major League Eating to Suspend All Bacon-Eating Contests (via Huffington Post)
Now, the loss of bacon itself is not that big a concern to me — I don’t eat it — but the reaction to the “problem” has me scratching my head. Before you go all “ehhhh she’s a vegetarian and hates people who eat meat,” you should know that I live with and love a raging carnivore, LOVE the taste of bacon and have absolutely no problem with people who have a different diet than I do.
My issue is that the immediate reaction of everyone who hears about the shortage seems to be:
“MUST FIND ALL OF THE BACON AND HOARD IT!”
Seriously, the people in this Today show story recommend buying all the bacon you can get your hands on and putting it in the freezer, just so you don’t have to go a day without the pork product. Restaurants are warning that prices will go up 10% across the board. Twitter is blowing up.
I don’t care if it’s bacon or broccoli; it seems to me that we’d all be better off — shortage or not! — in embracing moderation rather than adopting an attitude of overcompensation.
If we really are going to have less bacon on the market, wouldn’t it make sense that instead of each of us taking more than our share, we agreed to take a little bit less so that more people could get it? And if the demand went down, the prices would stay lower.
I’m no economist, but I feel like the instinctive “baconpocalypse” mentality is sort of a symptom for the thing that so many of us face when it comes to healthy eating. I know that’s always been my problem — the inability to stop eating once I’m full, or to say no to foods that I don’t really want but taste great.
Yes, I did just get all political and rant-y over bacon. Just to end things on a happy note: in case you have some bacon and are looking for a recipe, this Bacon Birthday Cake is still one of the #1 viewed posts on my blog. You can even use half the amount of bacon that the recipe calls for if you want, and then we’ll both be happy. 
About Katy
Haha – I post about the “Baconopolypse” yesterday…. and then was inspired to have a piece of bacon with my dinner. LOL!
Haha! The last tweet was my favorite – deciding the presidential election!
What I want to know is, how did you dig up that picture of you with the pig? LOL.
Never been a big bacon eater, so it doesn’t bother me. If there were a world-wide shortage of chocolate though, we’d be in trouble.
I don’t usually buy bacon… but when this all started, for some reason, I picked up 2 packages of it at the store.
Why!?!?!? Guess I’m making bacon for breakfast 
I was watching the Today yesterday and almost started laughing when they suggested freezing all the bacon you can find. Part of me just thinks this is just a genius marketing plan to up bacon sales. But maybe that is also the same part of me that loves bacon and refuses to believe it might start disappearing…
OK! I took a quick poll around the office. Of the 9 people that did more than grunt at me only 2 are bacon eaters. I think bacon may just be s symbol for red blooded, hair on your chest decadence. Also my 2 takers could stand to close some buttons on their shirts!