Bacon is Not a Food Group
Bacon. Mmmm…The crispy, sometimes sweet, delicious indulgence, an outdoor leader’s go-to, affectionately known as
‘meat candy’ in many social circles. You are pretty much un-American if you don’t eat it every once-in-awhile (so long
as you are not a vegetarian). Bacon is a staple in the American diet. If we were playing a word association game and I
said, “Bacon and _____”, chances are, you would guess, “eggs,” or something of the like. Have you ever noticed that if
there is not enough bacon ration for everyone on a trip, at work, at home, (etc.), it can cause some serious animosity?
I’ve observed many snide exchanges in regards to bacon at my workplace, where we are fortunate to have a kitchen,
and happen to do a lot of food preparation for our commercially guided trips. Our workplace jokes about this, but we
know that you cannot expect to prepare bacon on any occasion without someone acting “hangry” if you cannot share a
piece. Bacon means serious business. We know what not to do. 1. Do not leave bacon unattended, 2. Do not serve all
the bacon at once, and 3. Do not skimp on the bacon – always have reserves. I even know someone who has a bacon
pocket for backcountry ski days. I know what you’re thinking; “Ridiculous.” I agree, it is. But we still ke ep doing it.
Have you ever wondered why bacon is so popular in our culture? According to Scott Colleary, it was all just a little
bacon propaganda. In the 1920s, Edward Bernays, the grandfather of public relations and advertising (and nephew of
Sigmund Freud), was approached by the Beech-Nut Packing Company to increase consumer demand for bacon.
Bernays gathered the support from 5,000 physicians to recommend eating a heavier breakfast, and then it was
publicized in newspapers. Nowadays, the media seems to be trending towards conversations about healthier eating. In
2009, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that bacon releases nitrosamines (especially when cooked
longer), which have been proven to cause cancer. Nicole Crawford further explains that the saturated fats contained in
bacon can lead to heart disease and higher cholesterol, which can result in a heart attack or stroke. And the Harvard
School of Public Health warns that people who eat one 2-ounce serving of processed meat a day, which is often high in
sodium (bacon is 194 mg/piece), are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The critic in me believes that in the 1920s,
meats probably were not as highly processed or mass produced as they are today, and were probably eaten on a less
regular basis than they are with the invention of convenience foods. But I am no nutritionist.
I’m not trying to completely shame bacon, or suggest that it is not okay to eat it in moderation. I would truly be a
hypocrite. I like bacon just as much as the next carnivore. Fun fact: Did you know that pioneer John Wesley Powell and
his crew used bacon rations during their 1869 Grand Canyon river expedition? Edward Dolnick explained that the food
was standard army issue: rice, flour, beans, coffee, sugar, dried apples, and, of course, bacon. (Though the first day of
the expedition, the crew “blithely” dumped 500 pounds of bacon overboard to lighten their loads; a decision they
probably regretted 3 months later, while still deep in the Canyon.) I digress…
As I have more healthy food conversations, and I am exposed to pseudoscience articles on the web about this topic, I
find it difficult to keep the facts straight. I realize that nutrition is a profit-based business. And I used to be a college
student (more than once), so I understand the need for convenience meals. I also used to guide full-time, and would
sometimes eat two lunches during a 12-hour day. There are a couple issues. First, I understand now, more than ever,
what my old boss (at our university’s outdoor program) meant when he said, “I have the most indoor, outdoor job
there is.” While I happen to work a lot of programs, I think we all eventually play more “desk jockey” than we want to
in this industry, and nutrition becomes more important personally with all that sitting around.
Secondly, what I find most intriguing is that we, as outdoor educators, have a difficult time monitoring nutrition on our
trips. I mean, isn’t it our mission to introduce and/or model healthy lifestyles? Many camp foods err on the side of carb
loading. Admittedly, it is difficult to feed the masses and get the proper energy supply with whole foods in the
backcountry. Our program is fortunate to be able to do backcountry fresh meals, because we do so much rafting. We
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