The article is online at NPR and offers some questionable evolutionary science to suggest that a bacon-related relapse among a few ex-omnivores constitutes a trend. It says, “Because bacon is one- to two-thirds fat and also has lots of protein, it speaks to our evolutionary quest for calories”. That makes sense if evolution looks like this:

Before I list some reasons to avoid bacon, I’ll quote one of the article’s commenters, Toodloo, with added emphasis:

“To answer the question of why people fetishize bacon, the answer is twofold:
1.) Eating bacon makes consumers feel rebellious in this age of compassionate and healthful eating – after all, pig is the most intelligent and sensitive of farmed animals.
2.) Bacon is the ‘gateway meat’ because it is prepared in a way to mask its animal source: its crispy, not ‘fleshy’; salt covers the taste of pig; and its cut into tidy strips that don’t resemeble the body parts from which it is derived.”

No matter how good bacon tastes, there’s no good justification for eating it.

10 Reasons Why Eating Bacon Is Wrong:

1. Animal neglect and abuse are common in the pork industry, not the exception.
2. Pigs are usually slaughtered at about 6 months old. For perspective, a pig’s natural lifespan is about 15 years.
3. Castration, early slaughter, and selective breeding are the pork industry’s solution to “boar taint,” the offensive odor of post-pubescent male pig flesh.
4. The US legal agricultural definition of “euthanasia” includes hanging or beating sows and piglets without anesthesia.
5. Swine Flu (H1N1).
6. MRSA.
7. Cholesterol.
8. Hog waste lagoons.
9. Pigs are cute.
10. We can choose to eat something else. There’s no need to eat bacon or any other animal product.  

“A disturbing video released exclusively to Fox News by the animal rights group Mercy for Animals (MFA) shows a string of alleged abuses at one of the nation’s largest pig farms, including footage of employees picking up baby pigs and tossing them like footballs.”

When I watched the video, here’s what I saw:

The footage was taken at “a large pig-breeding farm in central Pennsylvania owned by Country View Family Farms (CVFF).”

“What we documented is standard and largely accepted by the pork industry and as a civilized society it’s our moral obligation to make sure animals don’t suffer needless cruelty. It’s important we look at these animals the same way we look at dogs and cats because there is no difference. They feel the same pain, the same joy our beloved animals at home do,”

~Daniel Hauff, MFA Director of Investigations

Read the Fox News story here >>