A new California animal-welfare rule could make pork products harder to find and more expensive to purchase, AP News reported.
The law, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2022, will require more space for breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens and veal calves. Though the majority of veal and egg producers said they could meet these new standards, only 4% of hog producers said they could comply.
“We are very concerned about the potential supply impacts and therefore cost increases,” Matt Sutton, the public policy director for the California Restaurant Association, told AP News.
If hog operators fail to comply with these rules, the supply of products like bacon could severely decline. This could lead hog products’ prices to increase as much as 30 to 50 percent.
These changes, though worrisome to the hog producers and bacon-lovers, are a massive win for animal welfare groups that have been pressing for better conditions for farm animals.
According to Business Insider, more than 60% of California voters said yes to the Farm Animal Confinement Proposition.
With only a few months until the proposition goes into effect, California could be losing almost all of its pork supply as producers will likely face higher costs to regain the market.
This will occur unless the courts or the state intervene and temporarily allow non-compliant meat to be sold in the state, AP News reported.
California’s restaurants and grocery stores use about 255 million pounds of pork a month but only produce 45 million pounds at its state's farms, Rabobank found.
