Not my bacon!!!! Calm down David, calm down. You may have heard the recent warnings that those of us who are pork lovers may be dealing with a shortage of the good stuff, along with sharply rising prices. Actually, my weakness is bacon and even then not all that often. They say it is a guy thing. One of the funniest comedy skits ever is Jim Gaffigan's bacon schtick http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drqUfOAenwQ
I digress. Why the shortage and soaring prices? Well, drought conditions in the U.S. killed off corn crops, and no corn --or really expensive corn -- means no pigs, means no bringing home the bacon. Many farmers are getting out of the pork production business, including one of the biggest outfits in the country. As farmers sell their herds en masse the price declines, even as the cost of raising a pig to market maturity rises. It costs about $170 to raise a pig which sells for $130. This is just bad business. And this means that the affordable meat will be harder to find and cost more.
During Creation Time I have addressed climate change (fire), which leads to drought, and food production (earth) from a faith perspective. Feeding ourselves is both a practical and spiritual issue. Perhaps when it is a matter of "sticker shock" we well get it.
While I think I hear a few vegetarians chuckling out there, I'm interested to hear your thoughts about all this.Is part of all this becoming less dependent on animal protein in our diets? Or about fair compensation to farmers? Is the end of bacon a sign of the apigalypse?
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