How Will the Bacon Shortage Affect Hudson Valley Pork Lovers?

There's a bacon shortage coming, and everyone is freaking out.

But before you fill your freezer with Oscar Meyer, you should know the facts.

First of all, it's true that the United States' pork belly reserves (yes, we actually have a national stockpile of pork) are down to record low numbers. The NY Post reports that in December we were down to just 17.8 million pounds. While that sounds like a lot, it's the lowest we've seen since 1957.

So why the bacon shortage? Well, it's not due to production. Apparently, we're raising and slaughtering more pigs than ever before. It's our nation's fascination with bacon that seems to be the issue.

Customers in the United States are eating record amounts of bacon. It's so much bacon that we've been literally eating away at our reserves. The dwindling supply has resulted in a 20 percent increase in the price of bacon last month.

Here in the Hudson Valley bacon is as popular as ever, with many restaurants offering entrees from fish to beef all topped with bacon. While we have many small, local farms that produce their own bacon, it's not nearly enough to offset the national shortage.

The good news in all of this is that experts don't believe we will ever actually run out of bacon. Instead, expect prices to increase as demand continues to outpace supply. While that may not be good news for our taste buds, it certainly can help out our expanding waistlines.

We want to know what you think: do you love bacon enough to keep eating even as the price increases? Or would you cut bacon out of your diet if it gets too expensive?

Let us know your thoughts on our Facebook page or in the comments section below.