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....there's a BACON SHORTAGE!! due to high demand 
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As bacon appears in more dishes, pork belly prices jump
DES MOINES — Americans have stuck loads of bacon on their sandwiches and salads this summer as the U.S. supply of hogs has fallen, creating a shortage in that most joked-about commodity, pork bellies.
Investors in bellies are having the last laugh.
The price of pork bellies, from which bacon is made, has shot up from 94 cents a pound as recently as June to $1.40 a pound in August.
On the store shelves, average retail prices have risen more than $1 per pound since last year, to more than $4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports.
"The prices will go up even more in coming weeks because the bacon that's on the shelves now was purchased earlier in the futures market," says Joe Muelhaupt, executive vice president of Des Moines Cold Storage.
Market analysts say the reason for the suddenly high prices is simple shortage: A year ago, 76.3 million pounds of pork bellies were in commercial freezers around the country. In early August of this year that figure had dropped to 35.4 million pounds.
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DES MOINES — Americans have stuck loads of bacon on their sandwiches and salads this summer as the U.S. supply of hogs has fallen, creating a shortage in that most joked-about commodity, pork bellies.
Investors in bellies are having the last laugh.
The price of pork bellies, from which bacon is made, has shot up from 94 cents a pound as recently as June to $1.40 a pound in August.
On the store shelves, average retail prices have risen more than $1 per pound since last year, to more than $4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports.
"The prices will go up even more in coming weeks because the bacon that's on the shelves now was purchased earlier in the futures market," says Joe Muelhaupt, executive vice president of Des Moines Cold Storage.
Market analysts say the reason for the suddenly high prices is simple shortage: A year ago, 76.3 million pounds of pork bellies were in commercial freezers around the country. In early August of this year that figure had dropped to 35.4 million pounds.
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