This is one of those things I suppose I already knew. My first time in OA I ate a lot of meat and, since my food plan allowed 4 ounces of pretty much any non-cheese protein, once in a while, I piled on 4 ounces of Bacon. Very crispy, very snappy, bacon. My logic was, the more you cooked it, the less fat it contained. True enough I suppose.  I believe recent data suggest that along with less fat, you get more carcinogens.  Fair trade?

Anyway, it’s been many years since my last strip of bacon and while I’ve abstained, the world has more than made up for my lack of enthusiasm.

Bacon is once more our true, national food crush, spanning all ages, all cultures and all meals. It binds us in its aromatic allure — and maybe in its outlaw luster. Like a freedom fighter emerging from an underground bunker, the smoky strips of crispy bliss somehow survived the rise and reign of the cholesterol cops.

It’s primal. It’s sublime. It’s bacon. And it’s bigger than ever, baby.

This was MSNBC’s response to KFC’s new Double Down “sandwich” . A sandwich which is 2 slabs of white meat chicken on either side of cheese and bacon. No bread. They have a deep fried, breaded, chicken patty version and a grilled version. If you routinely eat meat (why?) either would be an interesting and no doubt flavorful rare treat, but I’ll bet more than half the folks who eat these things will eat them far more regularly than rarely.

Back to bacon. Our friends at the National Pork Board have an amazing variety of data on their website. I looked at their Spring 2010 Pork Check-off report. This document is 40 pages long and includes 7 advertisement.  I counted 5 pharmaceutical* ads and 2 for other pork related stuff. In total, about 4.33 pages of pharma ads, a bit less than half a page on pig farm waste/odor management one page from Cargill which seems to pitch their pig feed nutrient management system. More than 66% of the ad space on animal drugs. Better animal husbandry courtesy of your friends in the pharmaceutical** industry.  Mmmmm, antibiotics.

I found a PowerPoint presentation from 2007 that tracked pork, chicken and beef consumption, per capita, in the United states. In 2007, they projected a decline from about 50.5 pounds of pork per American, down to about 48 pounds. Now, that’s not all bacon.  I learned here that about 15% of the weight of a pig ends up as bacon. Extrapolating, about 7.2 pounds of bacon (raw weight) is consumed per person each year.  That seems like a pretty big number,  considering all the observant Jews, Muslims, vegetarians and babies in America that don’t eat any. Maybe the number is closer to 8 pounds, which cooked is is probably only about 8 ounces.

No bacon for me. Though, in the interest of full disclosure, I had a vegan meal at a local place, the first time I was there, and he made dish that I would swear had bacon in it. I’m not sure how this magic is achieved but I hope serious chemistry isn’t a factor.

** I can’t believe I spelled pharmaceutical correctly the second time!