The Bacon Gap

June 30, 2008

MEDFORD, MA—The Lighthouse restaurant on High Street serves breakfast and lunch to local residents from 6 AM until 3 PM seven days a week. Despite the range of colorful characters who dine at The Lighthouse with varying degrees of regularity, some things are always the same according to owner, Pat O'Malley. "Every guy orders bacon. Not all the women do. Some do. But to my knowledge, every single man who's come in here in our 10-year history has ordered bacon and eaten it all." So you can imagine Pat's surprise when something very different occurred yesterday at 9:30 AM.

"So this guy walks in, must've been 5'10", 180", dark hair, you know, just a regular looking guy," O'Malley continues. "So Michelle--that's our hostess--seats him right over [in the corner]. I goes over to take his order and I remember exactly what he orders. I've always had a good memory for that. This guy, he orders a Wagons West. That's our name for our Western omelette. We like to give them fun names. Like, our Spanish omelette is called the Spanish Indigestion. You know, like that. But anyway, he orders a Wagons West, an OJ and a side of white toast. So a few minutes later I bring him his food with a side of bacon. See, most people these days don't bother to mention the bacon because we know they all want it. So like I said, I bring him the food with the bacon. He says, 'I didn't order bacon.' I says, 'Oh, I just assumed you wanted it.' He says, 'No thanks. I don't really like bacon.' I tell ya, I'd a eaten my hat if I didn't already have a plate of bacon in my hands."

Surprisingly, this is not an isolated incident. Reports have been filtering in from across the country, claiming that some men are turning down the opportunity to order, buy or even taste bacon. So what is the cause of this? Are men simply losing their taste for bacon? A new study suggests that might be the case.

Dr. Carleton Westgate, a research professor at West Carolina State Junior College of New Jersey, spent the last 6 years analyzing bacon consumption among American males, age 42-48. "When I first began testing, men averaged about 12 strips of bacon a day," Westgate explains. "And now they're at about 12.5. I know that sounds like an increase in consumption, but you have to realize that in the 6 years previous to testing, bacon consumption had risen about 16%. And now it's at just over 4%. So, yeah, I guess we'll still increasing our pork intake, but at a much lower rate."

When asked about his testing methods, Westgage confesses, "It was easy. I just counted how many strips of bacon I ate each day for six years. I know it was a sample of one, but I'm a pretty average guy, so the way I figure it, my bacon consumption is pretty close to average, too."

Since adult bacon consumption isn't yet in decline, the answers lie elsewhere. One source is the educational system. It has become increasingly clear the United States is no longer the world leader in bacon consumption. Asian and Indian students now consistently score higher on Bacon Capacity Examinations (BCE), widely considered the international standard in pork product intake assessment. This suggests the consumption gap is due largely to the poor quality and quantity of bacon in American elementary schools, a problem that has been growing for 25 years.

Carleton sees the issue firsthand. "When I was in school, we could get bacon on everything. Eggs in the morning, American chop suey at lunch...everything. Now my son is lucky if he gets 3 strips with his sloppy joe. He complains about it, but there's not much we can do. It's the responsibility of the schools."

And until schools and community realize how far Americans are slipping in the global bacon race, a future without bacon seems terrifyingly likely.