
The Bacon Boom Was Not an Accident - agwa
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-06/bacon-why-americas-favorite-food-mania-happened?google_editors_picks=true
======
smacktoward
What's interesting about this story is that it starts out seemingly like it's
going to be about devious marketers devising a way to turn a product nobody
wanted into a hot seller strictly through marketing, in much the same way that
clever marketing turned the universally reviled Patagonian toothfish into a
big seller by bestowing upon it the more upscale name "Chilean sea bass" (see
[http://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-the-chilean-sea-
bas...](http://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-the-chilean-sea-bass/)).

But then you get into the meat of it (sorry) and find that the root of the
turnaround is an actual technical accomplishment -- a method to cook and
distribute pre-cooked bacon that wouldn't rob the bacon of its flavor:

 _> The early 1990s was a time of great advancements in precooked bacon
technology. Pork producers, food labs, and agricultural schools such as Iowa
State University began investing substantially in precooked R&D. Hormel and
Swift worked on microwaveable precooked slices for home consumers, while
Chicago’s OSI and the now-defunct Wilson Foods poured their efforts into bacon
spirals that would fit perfectly atop a hamburger._

These technical innovations turned out to be the key, because the pork
marketers were pitching bacon to fast-food chains as a "flavor enhancer," but
the chains that tried it mostly came away dissatisfied: the hassle of adding
bacon-cooking to their highly regimented kitchens created expense and added
time to the burger-assembly process, while existing methods for pre-cooking
bacon yielded a tasteless product. Pre-cooked bacon with taste intact (that
came in shapes ready to plop on top of a hamburger patty, no less) took all
that friction away.

My only regret is that the whole thing is written from the perspective of the
Pork Marketing Board, which funded the research into pre-cooking bacon, but
doesn't really tell you much about the research itself. That seems like it'd
be an interesting story, for those of a technical bent; here's a problem, how
do you solve it?

~~~
ChuckMcM
Exactly, pre-cooked bacon was the thing. And it is a thing, at least in my
house where it is trivial to put some chopped pre-cooked bacon onto the pan
next some stir fried green beans and spinach and poof really tasty side dish.

~~~
jkaunisv1
Maybe your brand is different but in Ontario pre-cooked bacon is gross and
tastes like McDonald's bacon. The texture is all wrong, it's thin and weird.

------
GuiA
Non US based HNers might be confused; bacon really is a big deal in the US.
Restaurants put it in salads, sandwiches, and pretty much anything they can-
I've had bacon ice cream once (weirdly it was pretty tasty).

Some macho people proudly eat pounds of it, claiming that it is a
manly/american food- see for example this youtube video:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8u8Z3bUQfs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8u8Z3bUQfs)
. In stores, you can find as many items with bacon texture on them as you can
find items with prints of the US flag. "Bacon bowls" are a thing.

It's really more than just a food in the US- people are obsessed with it. If
you spend time on reddit, you can get a glimpse of that through the ever
recurring bacon posts in the mainstream subreddits.

~~~
sudowhodoido
This has been the case in the UK for many years as well.

One of my earliest memories at the tender age of 3 (very early 1980s) was
wearing one of those blue anoraks with a fuzzy collar and being wheeled to the
greasy caf'[1] in a buggy and fed bacon, beans, chips (French fries) and tea.
This was in Islington in London. I can't think of a single week I haven't
eaten bacon since.

That's just normal here. No crazy or macho rubbish. Food staple.

And as I've had this argument before (on reddit...), to the Americans, we
don't eat that shitty Canadian bacon or the streaky stuff you get in the US
here. We use the latter to add flavour to other foods and eat the nice lean
back bacon:
[http://www.clancysofchester.co.uk/back%20bacon.jpg](http://www.clancysofchester.co.uk/back%20bacon.jpg)
. The streaky stuff is kind of horrible and clogs up your arteries.

[1] Not café. Caf' innit (local dialect)

~~~
Chevalier
Just to update your nutrition information, the streaky stuff is great for you.
Fats, especially animal fats, are pretty wonderful for human health. You lose
both flavor and nutrition when you remove it from your diet.

I feel like I'm letting a secret out, but if there's any crowd that we want to
be healthy and productive, it's HN. Eat fat. It's great for you. What's
important is to remove sugar from your diet in all its forms.

~~~
sudowhodoido
Not too much. Coronary heart disease wiped out a big chunk of my family and it
wasn't because they ate sugar - it was the lard on toast and chips cooked in
lard...

Everything in moderation is probably better advice than a single fact.

~~~
Chevalier
Personally, I'm persuaded by my personal experience as well as testimony from
/r/keto. I've lost nearly 100 lbs over the past year by switching to a high-
fat, moderate-protein, and ultra low-carbohydrate diet. I really can't endorse
it enough.

If I had to guess, your family's health problems weren't with lard -- they
probably resulted from the companion toast and french fries. Any calories you
eat will be directed to storage if your insulin is spiked... which happens
when you eat carbs like those found in wheat and potatoes.

That's not to say that glucose, which you find in potatoes, is necessarily
awful. I don't eat it, but Dr. Robert Lustig (an incredible font of knowledge)
thinks glucose can be a valuable part of a diet. What's particularly important
is to eliminate fructose and sucrose. They're toxins with no redeeming
qualities except making fat-free foods palatable.

~~~
michael_h

      eliminate fructose
    

To better health: Eliminate fruit, increase bacon consumption. Got it.

~~~
Chevalier
You think you're being sarcastic. The only reason why fruits are okay in
moderation is that their fiber mitigates some of the damage of their sugar
content. The vitamins you can get from fruit are valuable, but the sugar rush
isn't.

I'm not opposed to the occasional fruit. But given your tone, I rather suspect
you think Jamba Juice is healthier than a steak. Go ahead, I'm not here to
save your life... but you may want to read a bit on the subject. I'd start
with Gary Taubes, Peter Attia, and Robert Lustig.

------
rpenm
Obviously The Pork Board would wish to claim credit for the shift in demand
for bacon. Lobbyists and advertisers will tend to portray themselves as
essential to the industries that support them. It is more likely that "the
bacon boom" was a market phenomenon driven by lots of small cultural and
technological shifts, not social engineering. The article is undermined by its
title and reliance on Pork Board anecdotes.

------
gopalv
I think Edward Bernays goes fairly un-credited in the article.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays#Techniques](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays#Techniques)

The idea that it is "breakfast meat" is probably his making.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLudEZpMjKU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLudEZpMjKU)

------
IvyMike
Reading about the Pork Marketing Board, I can't help but be reminded of the
Celery sketch on Portlandia, where the Produce Sales Board tracks the
marketing of various produces. Bacon plays a key role.

[10:49 video]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQX44THWIyc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQX44THWIyc)

~~~
kaonashi
Celery just needs more of a root-focus.

------
Fuzzwah
As an Australian living the in the US, I _really_ miss Aussie "full rasher"
bacon and am somewhat amazed that it hasn't become a thing over here in bacon
crazy land.

[https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=australian+full+ras...](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=australian+full+rasher+bacon)

~~~
ShaneOG
Yes! I'm from Ireland and we have the same. I live in Brazil now and it has
been heavily influenced by the US trend of streaky bacon :(

------
ErikRogneby
I attribute the rise in bacon consumption to _why. Long live crunchy bacon!

[http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-
guide/book/chapter-3.htm...](http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-
guide/book/chapter-3.html)

~~~
pchristensen
s/crunchy/chunky/g

~~~
ErikRogneby
Hah! You are right! I could have swore I wrote chunky. Some kind of synaptic
auto-correct routine running in my brain...

------
gojomo
Left unmentioned, but a major factor in my personal bacon consumption and
observation of others': the rise of low-carb, rather than low-fat, diets.

------
modzu
I suspect that in the not too distant future, we will look back at ourselves
eating this highly intelligent and emotional animal with disgust. Why do we
call it "bacon" instead of "pig belly"? To keep consumers from remembering
that it was ever an independent, conscious creature. The amount of marketing
that goes into this narrow vision of "mm smoky salty tasty" B.S without
thinking with your brain about what it actually IS, really is a tragedy

~~~
worklogin
I am slowly trying to re-evaluate my consumption of certain meats from certain
sources... I feel hunting and local farming can substantially improve the
ethics of meat consumption.

I also have never heard a pig called smart. They're dirty, and the mothers
sometimes eat the young. I thought Octopus was the animal of the week to
defend.

~~~
jestar_jokin
Maybe you think pigs are dirty as they wallow in mud? This is because they
lack functional sweat glands, and can't pant like a dog can. They wallow to
keep cool.

I'd be curious to know if "savaging" (eating/killing their young) occurs
outside of factory farms. I imagine if it does, the likelihood is a lot lower.

~~~
unethical_ban
It's an anecdote, but my mom grew up on a small farm and she remembers hearing
the squeals of a piglet as the sow ate it one time. She didn't eat pig for a
while.

------
WellDressed
"That year (2008), according to the website Babycenter, 11 out of every
million babies born in America were named Bacon." ಠ_ಠ

~~~
mzs
Not sure about that, there should have been about 50 if so and from the readme
provided by the census "To safeguard privacy, we restrict our list of names to
those with at least 5 occurrences."

    
    
        usa$ grep -i bacon yob????.txt | wc
               0       0       0

~~~
sp332
Shouldn't your search also find the 29,000 people with the last name of Bacon?
[https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=bacon&a=*C.bacon-_*Sur...](https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=bacon&a=*C.bacon-_*Surname-&a=*DPClash.ExpandedFoodE.bacon-_*PreparedCuredPorkBacon.dflt-&a=*EAC.ExpandedFood.PreparedCuredPorkBacon-_**a.PreparedCuredPorkBacon-.dflt-)

~~~
mzs
No, it does not include that:

    
    
        usa$ head -5 yob2008.txt 
        Emma,F,18791
        Isabella,F,18598
        Emily,F,17419
        Olivia,F,17066
        Ava,F,17024
    

The USA Census Bureau released names.zip and namesbystate.zip back in May and
they include README files of how they were anonymized.

------
snori74
My guess is that there's similar stories to be told about coffee and chocolate
- both of which now have fanatical followings. I'm sure they've been been
told, but I have not yet read them.

On a related note, This American Life recently did an interesting item on the
birth of the artisnal toast - well worth a listen.

~~~
scott_s
Indeed, and it can be found here: [http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/520/n...](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/520/no-place-like-home?act=3)

The "artisinal toast" aspect is the least interesting. It's an amazing story
about a person dealing with their own mental illness, with some good startup
advice mixed in at the end.

"Just get some cups. Brew some coffee. When you run out cups, close the door,
and go get more cups."

------
beachstartup
one of the great things about bacon in the US is the huge variety available.
at my local market they have the following types always available:

* cured, thin cut

* cured, thick cut

* smoked, with 3 or 4 types of wood

* uncured, thick and thin and smoked

* cured with lower sodium

* flavored with some kind of liquid smoke type stuff

* pre-cooked

also i've seen bacon clubs (like they do with wine) popup on the internet
lately. so great.

~~~
cschmidt
I've always wanted to try Zingerman's bacon of the month club:

[http://www.zingermans.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=G-bac-3](http://www.zingermans.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=G-bac-3)

From a great deli in Ann Arbor, MI

~~~
dllthomas
_" From a great deli in Ann Arbor, MI"_

In my experience, Zingerman's is overpriced and overrated. That isn't to say
bad by any means, it probably still makes the cut for "great", but honestly I
had better experiences at Bread Basket for much cheaper (with the caveats that
this was years ago, and I've every expectation it'll vary depending on what
you're getting).

------
edpichler
Incredible, a product that nobody wanted became a success.

I wonder how much products failed because people haven't found their real
function. They did just some adjustments on bacon and it became a success as a
flavor enhancer.

~~~
irrelative
A very similar thing happened with chicken wings - they used to be discarded,
and now they cost more per pound than any other chicken part.

~~~
edpichler
Well remembered. I also heard a history about chicken legs years ago.

I also worked on a firm, in Brazil, that make a ERP software for Chicken
producers. Some of our clients told me all chicken legs was separated and send
to Asia (I think it was Japan), where it is a really appreciated product.

------
shire
Wow I didn't know it was such a big deal like that. I always wondered why
Religious people are against Pork and most Holy books forbid eating pig? Yet
is so popular to eat? Confused on that.

~~~
jestar_jokin
Pork can easily carry diseases that humans are susceptible to. Not such an
issue these days with modern food processing. Bacon and other
processed/preserved meats are loaded up with sodium nitrite, which also helps.

~~~
shire
I myself have never had Pork. Just Chicken and Beef. A study by the Cancer
Research Center of Hawaii and the University of Southern California suggests a
link between eating processed (sodium nirite) meats and cancer risk

------
LordHumungous
Bacon jumped the shark when they started putting it on desserts.

~~~
jobu
Side note: bacon wrapped shark is pretty tasty:
[http://finsmediagroup.com/bacon-wrapped-sharkscallop-
kebabs-...](http://finsmediagroup.com/bacon-wrapped-sharkscallop-kebabs-w-
jack-daniels-glaze/)

------
drivingmenuts
I'm wondering just how much manipulation of social media was done to push
bacon to where it is now (ie., how many bloggers were paid to astroturf).

------
EvenThisAcronym
An entire article about the rise to popularity of bacon and not a single
mention of the Atkins Diet or Epic Meal Time.

------
ens
It's a baconspiracy!

------
myself248
I'd like to posit a far more insidious impetus: Xenophobia.

Yes, most of the people on the bacon bandwagon just enjoy the stuff. It's
tasty, and bacon-flavored ice-cream is a great joke. But there's also a vein
of white-supremacy, anti-semitic, anti-muslim sentiment in America, and some
of the people enthusiastically pushing to put pork in everything under the sun
might be doing so because they know it'll make others uncomfortable. A subtle
way to assert that "they don't belong here, in the land of bacon", basically.

Is it a tiny minority? I certainly hope so. But I think there's a larger
overlap, of people who don't think of themselves as actively racist, but who
just go along with the bacon-everywhere mantra because they don't mind rubbing
it in.

Imagine if your favorite restaurant had a barbecue special every friday, and
that coincidentally meant there were no catholics around the place. Okay, no
big deal, just eat somewhere else. Now imagine if every restaurant in town
adopted this schedule, leaving catholics feeling pretty unwelcome. A lot of us
non-catholics would _never notice_ , and probably just go along with it, hey,
tasty food on fridays, right? Until someone mentioned it...

I think that's where we might be on the bacon thing. Folks affected by it are
a minority, and hesitant to say anything for fear of sounding whiny and
further marginalizing themselves for their beliefs. And it's tasty enough that
most folks going along with it might not realize they're playing into an
agenda. And it would be impossible to prove that such an agenda even existed.
Which I can't prove.

But I do know that the bacon-fever makes some of my friends and coworkers feel
just a little uncomfortable, a little unwelcome here. Food for thought.

~~~
Chevalier
Speaking as someone you might consider xenophobic -- in that I think the set
of opinions that constitute Islam are pretty awful, particularly in regard to
apostates, women, and homosexuals -- I've never considered bacon to be an
avenue to white supremacy. Then again, I'm not white.

There are significant ethical hurdles to eating bacon, but Islamophobia isn't
one of them.

~~~
myself248
Oh, good. I'd like to think I'm imagining this. You give me hope. :)

