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 fourth in my series of five blog entries for their website.
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When someone asks me how I first got into writing a blog about bacon, I’m often asked if I’m really that obsessed with bacon.
While I joke about being obsessed with bacon, it’s not like I eat it for every meal or think about it 24/7. Of course, I indulge regularly and voraciously in my fair share of bacon, but my observations about bacon actually have more to do with my fascination with other people’s obsession with bacon.
The saying “everyone loves bacon” gets tossed around a lot. While that’s obviously not true, it is pretty rare that I encounter someone who says they don’t like bacon — or at least, anyone who is willing to admit that in public. But I do know vegetarians who say bacon is one of the things they miss most about not eating meat, and I have Jewish friends who keep kosher except when it comes to those mouth-watering strips of fried pork belly. Even if everyone doesn’t LOVE bacon, I think it’s safe to say a solid majority of the American population is quite fond of it.
There just aren’t many foods that have the same emotional impact on people as bacon. For some people, it brings back fond memories of Sunday breakfast with their family. For others, it’s taking pleasure in their favorite bacon cheeseburger for lunch. The most diligent bacon lovers save their bacon grease in a can in the refrigerator so they can enjoy the flavor of bacon even when they aren’t eating it.
Some people connect to bacon in ways other than consuming a delicious, greasy strip for breakfast — the number of bacon-related products invented in the last couple years is incredible. Bacon bracelets, bacon scarves, bacon jelly beans, bacon floss, bacon wallets, bacon tuxedos… and I’ve only scratched the surface. People are proudly displaying their love for bacon in a lot of unusual ways.
The number of bacon events taking place around the country also seems to be increasing by the year as the American obsession with bacon continues to grow. The number of bacon events taking place around the country also seems to be increasing by the year as the American obsession with bacon continues to grow. In the last year, events such as the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival in Des Moines, BaconCamp in San Francisco, and the Brooklyn Bacon Takedown brought together fun-loving bacon fanatics for a full day of eating bacon and bonding with other bacon aficionados.
There aren’t many other kinds of food which such a devoted following. Our collective obsession with bacon is just as special as the meat itself.
Heather Lauer is a lifelong bacon enthusiast and the creator of the popular website BaconUnwrapped.com. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and Fairfield, Idaho.