After 3540 miles, my bacon tour of America has finally come to an end. So I want to take a moment and thank everyone who hosted me on my trip.
- June Scott at Scott Country Hams
- Nancy Newsom Mahaffey at Newsom’s Country Hams
- Ronny and Beth Drennan at Broadbent Country Hams
- Mike Sloan at Swiss Meats
- Jeff Bruning at the High Life Lounge
- Brooks Reynolds
- Herb and Kathy Eckhouse at La Quercia
- Steve and Kathy Wesley
- Thielen Meats
- And all of the friends and family who let me stay with them along the way.
Every single person I met with was incredibly gracious with their time and knowledge. It was a truly enjoyable and educational two weeks.
It is worth mentioning that there are a couple businesses who declined an interview, and the reason usually had to do with them being too skeptical of what a blogger might write about their business. Given some of the coverage that pork and bacon producers have received in recent years – some of it earned, some of it not – I can’t really blame them for erring on the cautious side. Whether or not you agree with what some of these companies do for a living, I personally think it’s unfortunate that the food industry has become so highly politicized in recent years that the debate on issues has reached a point where certain players in the industry are hesitant to talk to anyone.
But if I’ve learned anything during my tour, it’s that there are a lot of real, honest, good people in this industry who are producing products with a tremendous amount of love and care (and they all seem to be having a lot of fun doing it). And I’m grateful to everyone who took the time to meet with me.