"Why California’s ‘Great Bacon Crisis’ Has Yet To Arrive"

"The pork industry claimed new animal welfare rules would bring chaos to the supply chain. Proponents say they need to get with the program".

"In the months leading up to the arrival of a strict new animal welfare law in California, headlines warned of a “Great California bacon crisis”. The law sets minimum living-space requirements for breeding pigs, which restaurants said could make bacon more expensive and harder to get.

But so far, the pork apocalypse has yet to arrive.

“There seems to be little disruption,” said Ronald Fong, the president of the California Grocers Association, of the law that took effect this month. “We just have not seen a pork shortage.”

California voters approved the law, known as Prop 12, in 2018. It creates minimum space requirements for animals raised to be sold in California, including pigs, calves and chickens. A vital element of the law is that even if a producer is based outside California, they have to follow the rules if they want to sell inside the state."

Katharine Gammon reports for the Guardian January 23, 2022.

Source: Guardian, 01/25/2022