Slate has a good piece arguing that the much-talked-about bacon shortage that became a topic of conversation earlier this week probably won't take place ... though it seems likely that bacon will be more expensive.
The original story grew out of a report from the UK's National Pig Association, which said that drought conditions around the globe, which affected pig feed, would result in fewer pigs and therefore less bacon.
Any bacon shortage, Slate writes, actually will be "a global increase in meat prices as a slightly delayed downstream consequence of the increase in corn prices." And corn is what you feed pigs to fatten them up.
The original story grew out of a report from the UK's National Pig Association, which said that drought conditions around the globe, which affected pig feed, would result in fewer pigs and therefore less bacon.
Any bacon shortage, Slate writes, actually will be "a global increase in meat prices as a slightly delayed downstream consequence of the increase in corn prices." And corn is what you feed pigs to fatten them up.
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It is a good piece, especially because of an interesting digression on what different countries call "bacon," which is not the same for everybody. You can read the whole thing here.