Iowa — Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is pushing back at critics who say her plan to override California’s law on pork production will derail up to a thousand laws in other states.
California’s law requires that bacon and other uncooked pork that’s sold in California must come from operations that have 24 square foot pens for sows.
Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says liberal activists in California should not be able to tell Iowa pork producers how to run their operations.
The National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau say it will cost 350 million dollars to retrofit US hog confinements to meet California’s rules, but the US Supreme Court upheld California’s law in May. A coalition of groups lobbying against Hinson’s proposal say it would open the floodgates to China’s take-over of American agriculture.
A bipartisan group of 150 House members also have warned adding Hinson’s so-called “EATS Act” to the Farm Bill would kill the Farm Bill’s chance for passage this year. The lawmakers say Hinson’s proposal would harm pork producers who’ve complied with California’s rules and would overturn other state laws about invasive pests, livestock diseases and puppy mills. California’s new standards for pork are set to go into effect January 1st. California’s space requirements for ag operations that produce veal and eggs went into effect nearly a year ago.
