World bacon shortage hysteria tempered by Canadian Swine Exporters Association

As yesterday's horrific euthanasia story revealed, our pigs are in crisis. And, according to numerous reports, it's not just local pigs.

Populations are declining around the globe, with farmers across Europe and North America struggling to maintain their herds amid skyrocketing feed costs blamed, in part, on this summer's U.S. drought.

"It's because of the rise in the price of corn," the Canadian Pork Council's public relations manager, Gary Stordy, told CBC News. "Producers are losing money right now and like any other business, when you're not making money, you shut down."

The National Pig Association in Britain has also revealed that herds across the European Union are dwindling at a "significant rate."

In light of these revelations, some media outlets are predicting a "world pork shortage" as early as next spring, a projection that has already sent bacon fanatics into crisis mode.

In fact, the threat of a bacon moratorium is so serious it has even generated mass hysteria (albeit of the mostly ironic kind) on Twitter, the Internet's insta-cultural barometer.

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Mashable has an entertaining roundup of bacon shortage-related tweets, gathered under the clever "aporkalypse" heading.

"British pig association officials warning of a worldwide bacon shortage. This is how the apocalypse begins," cracks Mark Campbell.

"This baconpocalypse will be hard on all of us, TeamBacon, but I promise you this: I'll get through it. Cuz I'm buying a truckload. Really," writes @Toure.

Less bacon also means fewer opportunities to use the salty meat strips in decidedly non-breakfast food ways, a trend that in recent years has triggered the creative impulses of the entrepreneurial set. Bacon-inspired funeral caskets (complete with the requisite bacon air freshener), bacon lip balm, bacon lollipops (for children who prefer meats to sweets) and Burger King's bacon sundae could all be affected if the aporkalypse were to descend.

But the threat is all "hogwash" according to Rosemary Smart, international marketing programs co-ordinator for the Canadian Swine Exporters Association. Though she acknowledged the industry's recent troubles, Smart told QMI Agency that no pork-loving Canadian breakfast table will go un-sausaged any time soon.

"Although some producers have gone out of business, the industry (in Canada) is not shutting down, that's for sure," she said.

"A lot of companies are expanding because the industry is good and some of the weaker ones have dropped out so there is a balancing there."

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While that may not help ease the cravings of our European counterparts, Smart assured the news agency's readers that there's still plenty of bacon to go around.

"In Canada it's not an issue at all. We export a lot more meat than we can consume. If our (Canadian) consumer wants to eat pork we have a supply in Canada," she added.

Whether you believe the CSEA or have added several hundred pounds of bacon to your grocery list (just in case), one thing is clear: this is not a good week to have a snout and a curly tail.