Lectures on Tap - "Bacon Mania: A History of America's Bacon Obsession"

Professors, experts, and storytellers giving thought-provoking lectures in Atlanta Bars 📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email 🧠 Lecture: "Bacon Mania: A History of America's Bacon Obsession" 🎤 Speaker: Professor Mark A. Johnson By the 1990s, America’s fat-free craze nearly destroyed bacon’s reputation. The National Pork Board pushed lean cuts as “The Other White Meat,” pork bellies sold for next to nothing, and nutrition experts labeled bacon a “salty, nitrate-ridden, fat-laden carcinogenic thing” and even “the most dangerous food in the supermarket.” Yet within a decade, bacon was everywhere—from over-the-top creations like the Luther Burger (a bacon cheeseburger between two Krispy Kreme doughnuts) to beloved TV shows like Parks & Rec, rising from grocery-store afterthought to twenty-first century culinary icon and pop culture symbol. In this talk, Professor Mark A. Johnson, historian at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and author of American Bacon: The History of a Food Phenomenon, traces bacon’s journey from maligned meat to gastronomic obsession. He shows how our love (or loathing) of bacon reveals deeper stories about nutrition, marketing, class, culture, and the ever-evolving American appetite. Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌 Agenda 6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key. 6:55 PM – Host introduction 7:00 PM – Lecture begins 7:45 PM – Audience Q&A 8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round 8:30 PM – Wrap up.