Eventually, my children understood my joke when I told them each morning that, “Daddy is off to bring home the tofu,” (and not the bacon). Later, they’ll thank their vegetarian father for his authenticity if nothing else. They know all too well my reliance on humor in the face of personal choices that traverse a larger moral ground; the deepening fissures of ground we observe all around us.
Bacon has made its way onto the battlefield. Or as Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) puts it, America is now facing a “war on breakfast.” And this so-called war has made its way to the Supreme Court in the form of the National Pork Producers Council vs. Ross. Karen Ross is California’s Secretary of Food and Agriculture.
In 2018, led by the Humane Society, California passed Proposition 12. This new law establishes minimum standards for raising animals. Each sow is to have a minimum space of 24 square feet, ample enough space to turn around. Prop 12 was driven by a moral concern for animal welfare — clearly not the primary concern for large-scale concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. For an industry focused on pennies per pound, Californians and their compassion for piglet Wilbur are pains in their bottom line — and worthy of a legal battle.
The stakes are high because although 1% of the pork is raised in California (almost one-third is from Iowa), residents there consume 15% of the nation’s meat. If states wish to sell pork in California, they must conform to this same animal welfare standard in raising their pigs. Rather than live miserable lives confined to a narrow, oppressive crate, the animals would, shall we say, be living high on the hog.
This case cuts across multiple ethical lines in our society. Given a casual reading of the circumstances, one might mistakenly conclude it’s the big, brutal, heartless meat leviathans pitted against the soft-hearted tofu lovers (who, on occasion, reluctantly confess their lust for barbeque baby back ribs). Not so.
The Biden Justice Department lines up solidly behind big pork and the meat lobby on this one, while many rural, small farmers — decidedly conservative — come down on the side of California forcing the hand of factory-scale producers to a higher level of stewardship. We sometimes overlook the historically strong connection that American farmers and ranchers have felt for animals under their care. Think of the young girl, a member of Future Farmers of America, who must finally put her prized sheep, Matilda, up for auction, and the picture then becomes clearer.
Those cultural norms and values of reverence are fast fading. In their stead, we have Smithfield, JBS, and Perdue who between them supply two-thirds of America’s pork. Smithfield alone slaughters 130,000 pigs on an average day. YouTube is replete with the unappetizing realities of daily life for piglets inside an industrial production facility. Better yet, watch the documentary: “The Smell of Money.” But don’t view it before dinner!
SCOTUS is scheduled to rule on this “war on breakfast” during the first part of 2023. Should the meat industry’s PR machinery get it right, they’ll keep consumer eyeballs and the court’s line of questioning focused on the threat of skyrocketing sausage prices. Can we soldier on once the Sausage Egg McMuffin breaks the $5 mark? For their part, animal rights activists will surface the collective moral concerns, emphasizing that those sentiments are shared by most Americans, not just the California variety.
In 2017, an activist group Direct Action Everywhere, trespassed onto a Smithfield facility in St. George, Utah, and removed a couple of sick piglets. Charged with burglary and theft, a conviction would have sent them to prison for up to five and a half years. The jury trial was in 2022; they were acquitted.
Beneath the pork prices, hearts are beating, piglets are suckling and the tofu is tasting better than ever.
After years of globetrotting, Broadman finds himself writing from his perch on the Palouse and loving the view. His policy briefs can be found at US Renew News: usrenewnews.org.
