There Will Be No Bacon Shortage

[marmar]

.........


There Will Be No Bacon Shortage
How a British trade association press release sent the Internet into a senseless panic.

By Matthew Yglesias|Posted Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, at 3:08 PM ET


It all began, strangely enough, with a press release from an obscure foreign trade association. The National Pig Association of the United Kingdom, you see, wants British customers to feel OK about the idea of paying a higher retail price for pork products. They’d particularly like it if British customers went out of their way to buy locally produced pork. And why wouldn’t they?

“Vendors want you to buy more of their product at higher prices” is more or less the ultimate dog bites man (or, as the case may be, pork chop) story. But the press release’s provocative lede—“A world shortage of pork and bacon next year is now unavoidable”—captured the imagination of the Internet. Not right away, mind you. The release is dated Sept. 20, but the looming bacon shortage didn’t start making global headlines until Tuesday, Sept. 25.

“Bacon Shortage Worldwide ‘Unavoidable’ UK Pig Group Says” was CNBC’s headline, while CBS went with “Global Bacon Shortage ‘Unavoidable,’ Group Says.” Up in Canada, the CBC offered the pithier “Global Bacon Shortage ‘Unavoidable.’” The news made the Huffington Post and even the Washington Post's weather blog (“Weather a factor in looming global bacon shortage”).

Given the rise of bacon worship in recent years, perhaps it’s no surprise that people are upset at the thought of a bacon shortage. But is the shortage real? And does it even have anything to do with bacon in particular? Are we headed for a dystopian future of food lines and bacon rationing? ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/09/unavoidable_bacon_shortage_u_k_s_national_pig_association_has_everyone_worried_about_the_price_of_pork_.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Remember in 1973 when Johnny Carson made that joke about a toilet paper shortage?

People ran out and bought cases of the stuff, not understanding it was a joke.

[pinboy3niner]

2. Oh, THANK GOD!

I nearly had a HEART ATTACK when I heard of the shortage!

[RC]

26. Not unlike the heart attack too much bacon can cause.

[littlemissmartypants]

3. It's a squeal at

$2.50 @ # Where I am there will never be a pork shortage. There are more pigs than people living in the next county.

[veganlush]

4. only the ignorant

Eat bacon anyway. factory "farmed" carrion is too cruel for words. find a way to witness it.

[Confusious]

5. You know, if vegans weren't so insufferably self righteous,

People might actually listen to you.

Just some advice, which I'm sure you'll ignore.

[pinboy3niner]

6. *snort*

[M_M]

25. Heh!

[veganlush]

7. people do listen to me

but if it's not said straight out and direct there's little impact. If it's too polite they think it doesn't apply to them. I've found you've got to shake people up a little and get them out of their comfort zones where they can start thinking. I know, I've been there. I used to eat meat, someone made me realize that the price is too high, and i don't mean money.

[Confusious]

8. "only the ignorant" isn't shaking them up

it's insulting, and most people usually turn off right after that (only the ones who like abuse and/or have a guilt complex will listen), along with the feeling of being insufferably self righteous.

That's why I don't listen to fundies either. Most all are insufferably self righteous.

It's really, really, really annoying.

edit: not enough reallies.

[HappyMe]

12. I agree.

I quit reading after the word 'ignorant'.

[shakeemondown]

13. I so thankful that I am not as "enlightened" as you are....

that bacon/egg/cheese on white bread really hit the spot this morning.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

9. LOL

[piratefish08]

11. that's insulting as fuck. my family relies on pork that we raise ourselves. i 'witness' it it all

the way to the end. you should find a way to see that and maybe you wouldn't be so fucking self righteous.

[HopeHoops]

22. I trust then that you don't qualify for a "factory farm". Family farms are so different.

We get our eggs from one of my wife's coworkers. It's hard to crack open a grocery store egg now and think of it as the same type of food. The difference is amazing. The same's true for pretty much everything raised on family farms. I'm in PA so we've still got a lot of them about. Thirty-fourty cows grazing here, a sea of corn there, a hundred or so sheep or goats in a field.

I no longer eat meat, but in making the change I gained a whole different perspective on family farming and hunting - in both cases you're taking responsibility for the meat, not just paying for it at a cash register. Most of the last meat we ate (quit in '89) was from a small butcher store down the road that only bought from local farmers. Amazingly good (and lean) cuts and sausages. The ground sausage was so lean that the frying pan rarely had more than a tablespoon of grease in it even with eight or nine patties (and they didn't shrink up, either). I'm glad that's what I was eating at the end of that era in my life.

I look at the factory farm / family farm issue as the difference between Home Depot and a family-run hardware store (which fortunately we also still have). I'll give my business to the small store whenever possible, as I do with the family-run grocery chain (7 or so stores and the last such chain in the area).

[slackmaster]

14. I am very happy that you believe that, veganlush

It leaves more bacon for the rest of us.

[mopinko]

15. nice respect for the human animals you walk amongst.

not

[edhopper]

17. I likes to eat me my bacon

Bacon is good eaten food. I's likes it when it is all crispy like.

But whats I know, I's just an ignerant fool.

[stuntcat]

18. "find a way to witness it"

Ignorant is the word for being unaware of the horrors happening repeatedly all day every day. But for most it's willful ignorance, which changes it to pure evil. People arguing bitterly for eating pigs, especially any they haven't witnessed the life and death of, just kill me. I do not need more examples of why humanity is a sad joke but I see them everywhere every day.

Ignorance is a politely mild way to describe it, imho.

[Odin2005]

23. Are you calling me ignorant?

[JHB]

10. Y'know, I haven't seen Kevin lately either...

Would a Bacon shortage mean we only have 5 degrees, or that we'd have to stretch it to 7?

[NightWatcher]

16. Bacon is for breakfast, not for desert. If we dont go crazy, it will be ok

Get it out of beer, sundaes, and all other things that are not breakfast foods or hamburgers and there will be enough for everybody. Whomever has been lobbying for bacon deserves a raise, it's everywhere and it doesnt need to be.

[Paladin]

19. These Threads Are SO Entertaining.

Snotty, self-satisfied vegans on one side, and meat eaters who sound like they still use their knuckles for walking on the other. Always the same......

[HappyMe]

27. You forgot

about the smug judgemental types.

[HopeHoops]

20. Post this in The Lounge also.

[1-Old-Man]

21. Porks one great saving grace is it don't take long to make a pig

Granted, its not like chickens (grown to slaughter weight in 3 months) but you can make pork mighty fast. It ain't exactly like a cow.

[HopeHoops]

24. "make a pig"? Oh, MAN did that bring up some weird imagery.

I mean like laboratory stuff morphing into a sculpting studio. Perhaps the oxycodone is still lingering.

[HereSince1628]

28. How to have an endless supply here:

Copy image location, cut paste, highlight, paste, repeat for more and more bacon

[just1voice]

29. Good article on supply and demand and marketing attempts at propaganda

I suggest people read it.