Pork belly shortage

Last week we received a package of farm produce, jams, and salsa from my brother’s place in Iowa. The tomatoes were wrapped in an August 15 edition of the Des Moines Register. The headline of the business section read “Pork belly shortage adds $1 to price of bacon.” Des Moines Cold Storage normally has 10 to 20 million pounds in inventory but now is down to 300,000. Exports are up 27% yoy. Iowa is the nation’s biggest hog producer, with an annual slaughter of 30 million head. Iowa also is the nation’s biggest consumer of bib overalls. Maybe this shortage is one reason so many workers are having trouble bringing home the bacon.