How Much Are Americans Spending on Bacon Each Year?

If you’re like most Americans, you’re hog wild about bacon. There’s bacon-flavored bourbon, bacon-flavored vodka, chocolate-covered bacon, chicken-fried bacon, bacon-flavored toothpaste, bacon-flavored gumballs and cupcakes, chocolate bars and donuts and … you know this list is infinite, right?

Yes, Americans love bacon so much that they’ll even continue reading an article about bacon that starts out with the phrase “hog wild.” In fact, when asked if they’d support a petition declaring bacon the national food, 65% of Americans surveyed told pork supplier Smithfield they would indeed. And Americans’ love of bacon hasn’t declined. The amount of bacon sold in the U.S. increased 5.4% year-over-year in 2015, with sales totaling $4.21 billion, according to data from the North American Meat Institute. At more than 908 million pounds sold, and a U.S. population of roughly 321 million people, that’s closing in on an average of three pounds of bacon for every American.

And, of course, it’s not just Americans who love their bacon. Canadians apparently have quite the, um, appetite for “meat candy” as well. When asked to choose between bacon and sex, 43% of Canadians chose bacon, according to a light-hearted survey conducted by Maple Leaf Foods back in 2010.

Bacon, it seems, is beloved in many parts of the world, so it just makes sense that the Saturday before Labor Day was declared International Bacon Day back in 2009 (that’s Saturday, Sept. 3 this year).

If that sounds like a reason to celebrate to you, on International Bacon Day or any other day, the folks over at BaconToday.com, a site dedicated to “bacony goodness,” have put together some recipes to help you get your bacon on, including this bacon-infused Bloody Mary recipe.

The Bloody Mary Sue-eee

1 oz. Vodka
3 oz. Tomato Juice
2 oz. Bacon Hot Sauce
A couple dashes of peppered bacon salt
A couple dashes of lemon juice
Garnish with a couple of strips (or more if you’d like!) of Coastal Caliente Jalapeno Bacon (cooked)

Grab a cocktail shaker and add ice. Combine ingredients into the shaker. Shake and pour into a glass. Add the bacon in place of a celery stick. You can add olives if you wish.

BaconToday suggests pairing this drink “with some bacon-wrapped hot dogs and you’re good to go! For an appetizer, wrap up some garlic stuffed olives with a half slice of bacon, place a toothpick in the center to hold the bacon and olive together, and bake until crisp.”

Remember, it’s great to enjoy your food, but if you pig out too much, your spending could take you straight from hog heaven to wallowing in the mud (yes, more ridiculous pork-related metaphors). It’s easy to keep your credit scores in good shape by paying your bills on time, keeping your credit card balances low and watching for signs of identity theft and unauthorized transactions on your accounts. You can keep track of your credit by getting your a free credit score, updated every 14 days, at Credit.com.

Image: Izabela Habur