United StatesAnimal welfareThe bacon crunchCalifornia's new regulations may raise the price of porkBringing home the bacon is about to get harder in California.Proposition 12, a ballot initiative passed in 2018, prevents the pork, veal and egg industries from raising animals within confined spaces for all products sold within the state.And while the egg and veal industries met new rules in 2020 (43 square feet, or 13 square metres, per calf raised for veal, one square foot per egglaying hen), the pork industry may fail to meet the requirements for breeding pigs (24 square feet) by January 1st.California's new restrictions are part of a larger movement to release animals from cages.McDonald's, Kellogg's, Kroger's and other businesses announced plans to use only cage-free eggs by 2025.Eight states, including Massachusetts and Utah, passed laws that in effect ban eggs produced by caged hens.California's law is the most impactful on the pork industry.As the largest consumer of pig products, 116m kilos per year (about 15% of all produced in America), California's standards have weight elsewhere.The industry is, naturally, claiming that the law is unconstitutional. So far, challenges have been unsuccessful.
