I love that so many people love bacon. Their high demand for bacon drives up the price of bacon, but then what can butchers do with the rest of the pig after they extract/harvest/slice/what the bacon?
The answer, of course, is sell it. It's a classic joint product problem in economics. People want bacon and bid up the price of bacon (about $6/lb in stores here in London, Ontario, this week). The high price is justified in part by higher costs for smoking and slicing, but the main reason the price of bacon is (comparatively) so high is the high demand for it.
That increases the demand for pigs. But the butchering of the pigs leaves something akin to an increase in the supply of pork roasts.
And guess what: Pork loin roasts are selling for about $3/lb this week. So we eat lots of pork roast in our home, and no side bacon at all.
A massive pork roast. And it was wonderful. And we ate almost all of it for dinner the other night. Mmmmmm. And last night we had the rest in salad: