In 2018, California voters in the state approved a bill called ?Proposition 12.? (Prop 12) It was touted as a solution to animal welfare and food safety. However, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) see it more as an unnecessary burden for producers that has no basis in scientific research. For this reason, both groups have filed a legal challenge to Prop 12.
California is a very large consumer of pork. On the flip side, California doesn?t have as large of a hog production population as other states. NPPC Vice President and Iowa Pork Producer Jen Sorenson talks about the impact California has on domestic pork consumption.
California?s Prop 12 mandates that sows must be housed in a facility that allows them 24 square feet of space. Sorenson says this number is purely arbitrary and has no basis in any scientific study.
Sorenson says many facilities already provide roughly 18 or 19 square feet per sow.
Compliance means many pork producers would have to upgrade their facilities if their pork is to be marketed in California. The Argument from NPPC and AFBF is this is a huge financial burden on American farmers, especially for a figure which has no root in science.
A full copy of the legal challenge can be found here.
