Chris, by all means, get yourself some fresh side pork and start makin' bacon. It blows store-bought out of the water. Buckboard bacon is more like ham than bacon, but it is very good. The bacon you purchase in stores is pumped full of water. When you fry it you get water in the pan. That won't happen with your own bacon from side pork.
Once you learn how to cure meat, you open the door to many, many products from pastrami to lox to back bacon to Duck prosciutto. You'd have to spend top dollar at specialty markets to get the same quality as what you can make with your own home cured meats. So yes indeed it is worth the effort.
