Having easy access to affordable bacon is important to Americans, but it’s also increasingly important to know where our bacon comes from. I’ve tasted many different brands in my lifetime, but as much as possible I try to support small producers (and find that’s where the best bacon comes from anyway).

 

Heritage Foods USA was founded in 2001 as an arm of Slow Food USA, a non-profit organization established to “counter the rise of fast food, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.”

 

Heritage works directly with 40 family farmers and processes 200 pigs per week. All of their cuts come from humanely raised, heritage breed pigs.

 

I recently tasted their Maple Sugar Cured Gloucestershire Old Spot Bacon, and it’s one of the best I’ve ever had. The fat marbling in this bacon is so sweet and milky, and this is a bacon I would definitely bake instead of frying so that with each bite you get a good mix of fat and lean. If you get a chance to try it and decide you like their bacon as much as I do, Heritage offers a Bacon Subscription to guarantee you’ll receive 3 pounds of their bacon every two months.