Bringing home the bacon just got more expensive.
The average price of a pound of bacon in the U.S. increased by 6 cents in June, pushing it to an all-time high of $6.11 per pound, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That’s a 41 percent increase since June 2012.
“For what you’d spend for a pound of bacon today, you could buy a whole 4-pound chicken, a six-pack of PBR, 10 pounds of bananas, 36 eggs, or a paperback copy of the fourth installment of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, ‘A Feast for Crows,’” The Huffington Post said.
Bacon prices are getting heftier for a couple of reasons. The nasty (and deadly) porcine epidemic diarrhea virus has killed 8 million young pigs, or about 10 percent of the entire U.S. herd, The Des Moines Register reported.
Another Register story said last month:
“The impact on the consumer is we can’t get enough pork produced and brought to market to meet the demand, and that’s pushing up the price,” said Matthew Diersen, a South Dakota State University agricultural economist. “The consumer either pays the higher price or goes to a substitute.”
Bacon is the latest breakfast staple beset by high prices. Coffee prices have climbed 58 percent in the last 12 months because of drought in Brazil, CNN Money reported, and just this week Keurig Green Mountain said it’s increasing the price of K-Cup packets by 9 percent.
Meanwhile, a disease called citrus greening has caused the price of orange juice to spike. Business Insider reported last month:
Florida’s citrus crop this year is the lowest it’s been in 30 years, and agricultural authorities have continued to lower their production estimates. Orange juice prices are up nearly 20 percent this year alone and will continue to rise.
Breakfast is certainly getting expensive.
Milk and cereal, anyone? I bet all this talk about bacon has you hungry.
Are you a bacon lover? Will you continue to buy bacon at its high price? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.
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