China-backed Big Pork Wants To Override 63% Of California Voters. Even Conservatives Are Mad

Spring has sprung connected Leo Staples’ family workplace successful Oklahoma, and his Berkshire pigs couldn’t beryllium happier astir it.

Weighing successful astatine astir 550 pounds, Woody, his largest hog (named by a grandson aft nan “Toy Story” icon) plays “like a puppy” successful his free-range paddock, Staples told me, gobbling up nan rye, clovers and wintertime peas that person grown knee-high nether nan Southern sun.

Swine life connected Staples’ sustainable family workplace is simply a jarring opposition to nan beingness of a pig connected 1 of America’s “intensive” corporate-owned mega-farms, wherever immoderate sows are confined to cages truthful mini they virtually can’t move astir aliases return much than a measurement aliases 2 successful immoderate direction.

“It’s not basal and it hasn’t proven to beryllium bully science,” Staples, a self-described blimpish Republican, said of Big Ag porcine lockups. “It’s besides cruel.”

That confinement is astatine nan bosom of a congressional conflict complete animal use standards that Staples — and California — is apt to lose, though we shouldn’t.

At rumor is nan Save Our Bacon Act, a sneak onslaught backed by overseas corporations presently hidden heavy wrong nan farm bill. It would severely curb nan expertise of states to enact limits connected animal confinement and possibly accidentally unfastened nan doorway for ending each kinds of state-level nutrient information laws.

The SOB Act, an apt nickname, would not only cripple mini family farmers specified arsenic Staples (though its supporters claim it helps family farmers), it would negate nan will of California voters, perchance present consequence into nan nutrient chain, and move greater powerfulness of our nutrient proviso complete to China.

It would besides limit user prime astatine a clip erstwhile much Americans — from fans of far-right Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to far-left granola grandmas — are demanding a opportunity successful really their nutrient is produced.

Let’s break that down.

What is nan SOB Act?

For nan vegetarian hard-liners retired there, it is existent that Woody himself will someday apt beryllium bacon.

But, progressively complete nan past decades, meat-friendly consumers person moved toward wanting animals to “live a really awesome life and person 1 bad day,” arsenic Nate Beaulac, different blimpish Oklahoma pork farmer, describes it.

In 2018, to further that aim, astir 63% of California voters passed Proposition 12, which accrued nan abstraction that breeding sows were required to have, from thing astir nan size of a mini car trunk to nan size of a overgarment closet. We’re not talking rolling acres present — conscionable capable room to move around. Some of these sows are fundamentally caged for nan mostly of their breeding life — years — and are astir nan size of a achromatic bear.

But present was nan existent wound successful Proposition 12: No pork from immoderate authorities could beryllium sold successful California if it didn’t travel from a workplace that met nan caller standard.

Overnight, nan firm breeders were locked retired of nan Golden State market. They sued bigly, and mislaid bigly successful 2023 astatine nan Supreme Court, which upheld California’s correct to enforce nan authorities standard.

Big Pork tried to revive nan rumor pinch nan Supreme Court successful 2025 and was rebuffed. Surprise, surprise, nan drums started pounding for nan SOB Act soon aft (though various legislative attempts person floated since Proposition 12 was passed) backed by a Midwestern congresswoman from a Big Pork state.

The SOB Act would negate Proposition 12 (and a akin rule successful Massachusetts) and forbid states from making laws regarding animal confinement, according to an study by nan Animal Law & Policy Program astatine Harvard Law.

That would emphatically overturn nan will of nan mostly of California voters who want those standards.

But hey, Big Pork would make large bank.

“They want to limit American consumers’ expertise to fight,” Beaulac told me. “They wanted to limit Americans’ expertise to prosecute immoderate benignant of change. And that is why me, not only arsenic a farmer, but arsenic an American and a capitalist, I’m powerfully opposed to nan Save Our Bacon Act, and successful staunch support of Proposition 12.”

What Prop. 12 did

Beaulac was erstwhile a Californian himself, earlier heading to nan Sooner State for college. He describes himself arsenic a “Christian, capitalist, blimpish environmentalist,” and a sustainable farmer who depends connected consumers’ desire for patient nutrient to waste his pigs, chickens and cows.

Proposition 12, Beaulac said, “was a immense thief to smaller farms, and nan only group that it really wounded were nan immense multinational conglomerates.”

“I mean very simply, we want nan opportunity to compete,” he said.

Staples, Woody’s owner, who is besides an master successful task guidance and biology compliance from a erstwhile profession successful nan powerfulness industry, makes nan lawsuit that nan mega-farms tin besides travel pinch mega-dangers.

“You person 100,000 pigs wrong 2 miles of each other, nan chance of issues pinch a swine flu aliases earthy disaster conscionable increases,” he said. He points retired that issues specified arsenic disease, groundwater contamination and discarded disposal person already go problems for immoderate ample farms.

The flaws successful nan SOB Act don’t extremity there.

The Harvard Law analysis points retired that nan loose connection of nan measure could person different consequences, possibly moreover gutting immoderate authorities safety, labeling and cleanliness standards.

And immoderate Republicans successful Congress, including Californian Reps. David Valadao and Young Kim, reason nan measurement and sent a missive to nan Agriculture Committee precocious past twelvemonth urging them to dump nan act, pointing retired that astatine slightest a 4th of Big Pork is owned by Chinese companies and does not correspond American interests.

“Foreign-owned corporations — peculiarly those tied to adversarial nations — already clasp a disturbing magnitude of power complete U.S. cultivation assets,” nan missive read, citing Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods, nan largest pork shaper successful nan United States.

The SOB Act “could further consolidate nan power of specified overseas entities,” nan letter‘s authors warned.

Armed pinch those arguments and others, Staples and Beaulac traveled to Washington precocious to make their lawsuit against nan SOB Act pinch lawmakers.

But, some men told me, they were met pinch a wall of lobbyists and money.

“It’s very eye-opening successful position of really galore lobbyists are location each day,” Beaulac said. “The reality is Big Ag donates large money to nan senators, and truthful erstwhile they request their measure to spell done aliases they request a measure unopen down, they’re going to person a batch much leeway than nan mini farmers.”

The lobbyists, Staples said, had nan statement wrapped up tight agelong earlier nan farmers moreover knocked nan ungraded disconnected their boots and entered Congress.

“It was very obvious,” he said. “I was not prepared for what Big Ag had done, really they had prepared members of Congress to reside nan issues we wanted to address.”

Beaulac said he’s discouraged and fears nan SOB Act will pass, but besides isn’t giving up hope. He sees it arsenic a bipartisan issue, and 1 he hopes for which group will guidelines up. This week, a societal media station featuring a sad photograph of a caged pig went viral, drafting attraction crossed statement lines.

“Blue, red. It doesn’t matter. People want patient food,” Beaulac said. “They want to cognize really it’s raised. They genuinely attraction really they’re feeding their family, and it has thing to do pinch who they ballot for successful November.”

What other you should beryllium reading

The must-read: Thune Is successful a Vise arsenic Trump and Far Right Demand Fight connected Voter Bill
The heavy dive: The exodus of California’s tech billionaires from nan Golden State to Florida’s Gold Coast
The L.A. Times Special: California could beryllium attacked by drones because of Iran war, memo warns. Officials downplay threat
Stay Golden,
Anita Chabria

P.S. Here’s a post by right-wing commentator Michael Cernovich connected nan SOB Act, conscionable a sensation of really overmuch immoderate of nan MAGA folks don’t for illustration this measure.

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