This week I’m guest blogging on Powells.com, the website of the popular Portland, Oregon independent bookstore. Click here to visit the Powell’s Books website where you can order a copy of Bacon: A Love Story – you don’t need to live in Portland to purchase your copy from them! And following is the fifth and last in my series of blog entries for their website.
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The Bacon Culture
One of the most fascinating things about bacon is that it has transcended its role as simply a tasty breakfast meat. Bacon has suddenly reached an iconic status in the last couple years and it’s showing up in some unexpected places.
For example, the number and variety of references to bacon in music is remarkable. Well-known artists such as Snoop Dog, Vanilla Ice, and Craig Morgan have songs that mention bacon. This is probably the only time those three artists will ever be mentioned in the same sentence together, such is the power of bacon!
Other music artists have more direct ways of finding their inspiration from bacon. Both Metallica and Foo Fighters demand that bacon be available backstage for them to nibble on before, during and after their concerts.
Comedian Jim Gaffigan has a hysterical routine about bacon that is a regular feature of his comedy show. It is (not surprisingly) a crowd favorite. One of his best lines is: “Whenever I’m at a brunch buffet and they have that big metal tray filled with the 4,000 pieces of bacon, I always think, ‘If I was here by myself…I would eat only bacon. I would steal this tray, go lay down, and eat bacon all day.'”
Gaffigan is funny, but the biggest advocate of bacon is really America’s favorite father, Homer Simpson. Countless episodes of The Simpsons make reference to pork generally and bacon specifically. As Homer says, “Porkchops and bacon, my two favorite animals.” Not to mention, Spider Pig was a major character in The Simpsons blockbuster movie in 2007.
While not quite as famous, the number of blogs devoted to bacon has suddenly increased in the last couple years. It’s hard to keep track of them all — I know of at least 20 bacon blogs other than my own, and I’m certain I’m missing some. But sites such as Bacon Haikus, Mr. Baconpants, and I Heart Bacon Salt are covering all the bacon angles on a daily basis. And if you do a search for bacon on Twitter, you’ll be presented with hundreds of thousands of references to The Best Meat Ever.
One of the longest-running conversations about bacon on the ‘Net is on a website called Lounge of Tomorrow. It has a discussion thread called “Bacon is Meat Candy” that has been running since January 9, 2007. To date, over 1,600 comments have been left about bacon. That’s a lot of bacon love.
Bacon isn’t just a virtual party, though. I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post that there are numerous bacon festivals around the country where people congregate to celebrate their love of bacon. I’m actually working with a team of fellow bacon lovers to host bacon events in several U.S. cities this summer, too. If you want more information, or if you just want to further integrate yourself into the Bacon Nation, visit www.BaconNation.net.
Thanks to Powell’s Books for allowing me to guest blog here this week. It has been fun and I hope to see everyone around the Bacon Nation soon!
Heather Lauer is a lifelong bacon enthusiast and the creator of the popular website BaconUnwrapped.com. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and Fairfield, Idaho.