One of America’s favorites, Bacon, could disappear from your local store. A new law in California could cause prices across the nation to soar as Smithfield Foods plans to close a major facility, making pork products harder to find, if available at all. The worst part is that the economic effect hits close to home, eliminating jobs just miles from us in Beaver, Iron, Millard and Garfield Counties.
Proposition 12
California’s Proposition 12 states that animals would not be allowed to cross state lines without meeting California Animal Welfare Standards. These pigs are normally raised in Utah and shipped to Smithfield’s slaughterhouse in Vernon, California. California is the largest consumer of pork products in the nation.
Prop 12 is under fire from at least 20 states. One of its biggest opponents was Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the North American Meat Institute. Potts argued that the law was unconstitutional as it would encourage a patchwork of regulations and would threaten the free flow of interstate commerce.
The United States Supreme Court was asked to decide if the California law was constitutional under the interstate Commerce Clause, but they declined to hear the case. The lower court’s decision stood, and Proposition 12 passed in 2018 and became law in California on January 1, 2022.
As of January 1, only four percent of hog raising operations in America met California’s guidelines, according to Smart News correspondent David Kindy. This would force farmers and other businesses to restructure facilities and reengineer management plans just to meet one state’s demands.
Smithfield Foods
One great example of a business affected by these restrictions hits very close to home, in Beaver, Millard and Iron Counties where Smithfield Foods announced they will soon close a substantial part of their operations.
For the last 30 years, Smithfield Foods has raised pork in Beaver County and has expanded to Millard, Iron and Garfield Counties. The pigs have been shipped to Smithfield’s slaughterhouse in California.
Pigs raised in these facilities no longer meet the standards required by California; therefore, pigs would have to be shipped to Nebraska for processing. Some pigs are currently being shipped to Nebraska, but due to higher gas prices this is no longer a reasonable solution.
One contract employee, whose name is not available for print, stated, “It’s going to completely change the economics of Beaver County, and have a large effect on all of the counties involved. It will affect everybody even down to the gas stations and grocery stores.” The same effect will be felt in all of the counties but to a lesser degree than in Beaver County who has come to depend on Smithfield for employment.
Not only will Smithfield workers be affected. Over 200 additional contract employees such as truck drivers, construction personnel, electricity providers, and sanitation removal contractors will see job losses.
The 49 contractors of Smithfield barns will shut down first, while those who own their own barns will have their contracts honored for the current time. Beaver County School District estimates that 200 students would be lost with full closure of the feed operations.
What the People in California Don’t Understand
Representatives of the hog farmers claim people who do not understand the industry drafted Proposition 12 so others would just stop eating meat. “The Humane Society of the United States goal is to have everyone stop eating meat,” according to Michael Formica of the National Pork Producers Council.
Many Smithfield workers at the pig barns feel they spend more time documenting environmental concerns than raising pigs. In an effort to comply with California’s demands, workers reduced the number of pigs in each pig barn, but that still wasn’t enough.
Proposition 12 is especially frustrating to the industry because it passed by an overwhelming majority after pictures in the paper showed pigs scrunched together while being loaded into a truck for shipping. These pictures were not reflective of the real situation that the pigs are raised in.
Food safety and security is foremost in the mind of the largest pork producer in the nation. Pigs in Smithfield’s operation are raised in very clean sanitary operations with room for pigs to walk around and feed at will. Workers have to shower in and out to be able to work at these barns and are not allowed to enter other barns unless they shower again to contain any germs that they may have contacted.
People in Beaver County have joked for years that the pigs raised there have better living conditions than many humans, but apparently that is not good enough for California!
Effects Across the Nation
Pork producers are unhappy, as California represents such a large market. Californians currently consume up to 15 percent of all pork products produced in the United States, according to Ed Kilgore who writes for the Intelligencer at New York magazine. Much of this is attributed to their large Asian population which consumes mostly pork for their meat.
In addition, restaurants across the country are concerned about the increase in food prices. “Our number one order is bacon, eggs and hash browns,” said Jeannie Kim, owner of SAMS American Eatery in San Francisco. Many of us have noticed the increase in pork prices recently and didn’t understand the reason. Gas prices have also contributed to a difficult situation.
Smithfield also has 2,500 jobs in California at their packing plant that will be affected by this new law.
Beaver County Commissioner Tammy Pearson stated, “The situation is, we have offers to build [new] plants as far away as in Nevada but that does not solve the immediate problem. We cannot do this without an agreement with Smithfield. We do not want to lose Smithfield as they have not only brought jobs to Beaver County, but they have contributed heavily to most everything the county has tried to accomplish. Pigs are great, but we needed to protect our communities and that is why we did our five-mile setback. We are trying to protect our jobs and our communities at the same time.”
Smithfield began shipping pigs out of their barns before Memorial Day, and layoffs will begin shortly.
Proposition 12 is an environmentally-friendly law that has quickly become very unfriendly to consumers, and people and businesses across the nation — including our local Smithfield workers. All of a sudden it’s not just the bacon we should be worried about, but the 400+ Southern Utah citizens who will now be forced to take their business, and their kids, and their jobs elsewhere. When environmentally friendly becomes unfriendly, we need to look at what we and others are doing and make some changes in policies.
– by Elaine Baldwin
Feature image courtesy ksl.
Read more about environmentalists practices that are unfriendly to farmers in Environmental Regulations Drive Farmer Protests.
Elaine Baldwin – Panguitch
Elaine Baldwin is an Editor/Writer for The Byway. She is the wife of Dale Baldwin, and they have three children, 11 grandchildren and one great granddaughter. Elaine enjoys making a difference in her world. She recently retired after teaching Drama for 20 years at Panguitch High School. She loves volunteering and finds her greatest joy serving in the Cedar City Temple each Friday.