Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect

[Aristaeus]

California and Texas have such a disproportionate control on industry regulation across the entire country. Either state can pass a regulation like this, jack up the price as a result, and the industry will bow to the regulations and make changes because those states represent such a massive portion of the market. Texas does literally the same thing with school textbook content and has for decades. I find the media representation more interesting than the practice of California and Texas bullying industries into compliance. Just because pork may cost 2 or 3 times as much does not mean it would disappear in the state. This piece smells more like propaganda than journalism.

This new pen-size requirement in California still only brings it at best in line, and often below, standards in Europe.

Animal welfare standards in America are still shocking compared to Europe.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Have you ever seen that video of Jamie Oliver showing children how chicken nuggets are made and then asking them if they would still eat them? I suspect you are in the minority.

Nope.
I know who he is, and I even know how most "nuggets" are made, but I don't know how the children in his film responded, thus I am not sure which minority you're saying I am in or what I should be concerned about.

I can only speak for myself on subjects like food choices, and I don't expect everyone to agree with my choices. But here is what I do know as fact: Meat processing has always been a filthy business with a very high disease risk factor, and the corner cutting which is now ingrained into most modern operations has been detrimental to both the quality of the meats and the health of the consumers.
It's impossible to ignore the almost thrice monthly news stories about various farm and meatpacking operations being shut down, or vast recalls of large meat shipments.
If this was air travel, it would be like saying that it's "mostly okay to let commercial aircraft squeak by with engines that are 500 hours overdue for tech inspections" or "it's not so bad if we squeeze another six hours out of every air traffic controller shift, they won't miss the sleep."

So, pigs and cows are not dropping out of the sky from fifty thousand feet, turning 124 Willow Drive Anytown USA into a pile of rubble, so it's not quite as sensationalistic.
But food borne illnesses are no joke, and the way we raise pigs, chickens, cattle and the like for commercial meat processing is pretty scary and I therefore welcome progress in disruptive technologies, because we either have to MAKE these operations cleaner, less cruel and free of mass antibiotic and steroid use, or we find ways to support alternatives.

The price of meat will rise, surprise surprise...it was always going to rise for one reason or another anyway.
And my experience with a couple of bouts of food borne illness arising from tainted meat consumption is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
It can kill you, and if we don't smarten up, it may kill a lot more people soon.

 

[Aunt Antifa]

The CRT poutrage has run its course, so righties will have a new thing to get poutraged about: BACON!

Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect

The new rules could be a rare case of consumers clearly paying a price for their beliefs.

www.nbcnews.com

To be fair, California voters may have bitten off more than they could chew.

There is no chance whatsoever that bacon disappears. Zero. Nada.

 

[Aunt Antifa]

I agree that producers need to have such regulations placed on them. I am for limited regulations, but I agree with treating livestock better. Unless that legislation bans imports from other farms in other states that don't meet the same requirements, all this will do is put more people out of work in California.

Or they’ll just up their game if they want to sell to one of the biggest markets in the country. My guess is the former will happen.

 

[joluoto]

Good for California. Animal welfare is important.

 

[ClaraD]

folks you can deal with cruelty issues by educating yourself on where your stuff comes from...buy local if you have to...that way you can see how animals are treated...I buy free range as often as possible and when we were in Colorado, I bought my beef from a neighbor...

 

[ALiberalModerate]

I'm not against legislating better treatment of animals. I just hope consumers who voted for it are ready to pay more for the products.

I buy whole real milk. Costs me $5.99 for a half gallon. I also buy eggs from hens with an actual pasture. Those are expensive as well. I do this by choice, without the government mandating it.

So animal rights should be contingent on the choices consumers make? For example, a lot of people either adopt their dogs from an animal shelter or buy from a reputable breeder. However, plenty of dogs are sold from pet stores that usually get their dogs from puppy mills where the breeding dogs often spend their entire lives in small cages. Should we continue to allow puppy mills and just wait for consumers to all finally be responsible in their purchases?

When people are removed from the ultimate consequences of their choice, they often don't make responsible choices. You see a package of meat in a grocery store, the meat looks the same regardless of whether it came from a small farm that treats livestock humanely or a factory farm that doesn't and most consumers act accordingly. Similarly, when people see a cute puppy in a pet store, they often don't think about the living conditions of the puppy's parents. Ultimately, people often have to be told what to do in order to make better choices.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

California and Texas have such a disproportionate control on industry regulation across the entire country. Either state can pass a regulation like this, jack up the price as a result, and the industry will bow to the regulations and make changes because those states represent such a massive portion of the market. Texas does literally the same thing with school textbook content and has for decades. I find the media representation more interesting than the practice of California and Texas bullying industries into compliance. Just because pork may cost 2 or 3 times as much does not mean it would disappear in the state. This piece smells more like propaganda than journalism.

And once upon a time "Reg. by Penna Dept. of Agriculture" was printed on every single package of cottage cheese and cream cheese that ever got sold in the United States until the mid-1970's.
And once upon a time every university agricultural curriculum taught that there were TWO basic FARM MODELS, the "Pennsylvania Farm Model" and the "Iowa Farm Model".

How do I know this?
I know this partly due to just having natural childhood curiosity and seeing the labels and then annoying the crap out of MY MOMMY when as a six year old I pestered the grocer, asking what a "Penna" was and what the gobbledygook message on the cream cheese package meant. And much to MY MOMMY'S surprise, he actually stood there and explained it to me as best he could to a six year old.
And I also know this partly by accident by marrying into the family that owned the farm that was originally used AS the Pennsylvania Farm Model, Maple Lawn Farms in New Park, PA. ... right on the Maryland-Pennsylvania border.
I married into that farm family, and I listened and learned from them.

So, did Pennsylvania HAVE a disproportionate amount of control back then?
Maybe, or maybe not, I guess it depends on whether or not their control was simply benevolent public service or politically motivated manipulation of the markets.
If Maple Lawn Farms was an example it would be decidedly the former, and I am not biased because frankly, my first marriage failed badly...but I know that the farm family I married into are good people and I know that they never became unduly enriched over the hundred and thirty-five years that farm's been in existence.

Does California have a disproportionate amount of control over items like air quality and building standards?
Depends...are you living in a city choked by ghastly smog, or are you picking up the rubble of your unreinforced masonry building after a 4.1 quake leveled most of it due to a fracking induced temblor?
If either are true, you're probably very interested in learning how to build cleaner running vehicles or buildings that can laugh off a 4.1 shaker, and you'll find yourself looking at California style regulations either way.
My own home here in Whittier was built in 1996, two years after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake destroyed large parts of the LA Metro area.
I've already seen it shrug off 4.6 quake since we moved in, not even a crack in a wall, because it was designed to survive a 6.0 or heavier temblor, in accordance with post-Northridge construction updates.

It could be argued that your criticisms have a lot of merit but I'd like to hear more from your position first.

 

[Phys251]

I've tried a few of the non-pork substitutes and to be honest, some of them are jolly well okay by me.
Same with some of the plant based meat/burger offerings.
Some of the fake bacon is plant based, some is turkey based.
I seem to have found a few suitable replacements so if the inevitable happens, it won't be the end of the world for me.

For me, the end of the world is closer to things like species wide epidemics brought on by today's absurdly horrible
pig farming operations where disease rips through the flock and gets to the market quicker than the ag folks can issue a recall.
I've experienced some serious illness from food borne bugs due to sloppy meat handling.
Me no likey BIG time, I GAVE UP bacon altogether a few years ago after winding up in the hospital for three days.
And that's when I began looking at alternatives.
"F*** those idiot pig farmers anyway", I reasoned.

So, as much as I do love bacon, I'll adapt and I'll be fine.
The one thing I've yet to find a substitute for is STEAK.
And I do have serious doubts about any decent substitute for a tasty slab of dead cow.
I may have to draw the line there ha ha.

Ground beef can be substituted by ground turkey. A slab of steak, well, that's different.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

folks you can deal with cruelty issues by educating yourself on where your stuff comes from...buy local if you have to...that way you can see how animals are treated...I buy free range as often as possible and when we were in Colorado, I bought my beef from a neighbor...

There's a tiny Mexican owned butcher shop about four miles down the street from us on Studebaker Rd. in Downey.
It is literally a hole in the wall operation, and the owners aren't buying any private planes or luxury yachts just yet.
But El Chymal might just be the most ethical, clean and best run butcher shop I've ever seen, and I know how they raise and process their meats because they are one of the only shops that handles almost the entire process themselves, from raising the cattle on their own ranch to the countertop where they grind the meat and package it themselves.
And every single step of their operation is visible in the hundreds of photos plastered on their wall, to video clips they play on the two ancient flat panel screens they have running all day long.

These guys are extremely proud of everything they do, they take great pride in every step of their process. Their beef never sees the inside of some anonymous slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant, it's all in house, one hundred percent, and they want their customers to know as much as possible about the meat that they consume.
Once you've paid attention to what goes on in the big corporate meatpacking operations, you will understand why small local butcher shops are more important now than ever.

 

[ClaraD]

There's a tiny Mexican owned butcher shop about four miles down the street from us on Studebaker Rd. in Downey.
It is literally a hole in the wall operation, and the owners aren't buying any private planes or luxury yachts just yet.
But El Chymal might just be the most ethical, clean and best run butcher shop I've ever seen, and I know how they raise and process their meats because they are one of the only shops that handles almost the entire process themselves, from raising the cattle on their own ranch to the countertop where they grind the meat and package it themselves.
And every single step of their operation is visible in the hundreds of photos plastered on their wall, to video clips they play on the two ancient flat panel screens they have running all day long.

These guys are extremely proud of everything they do, they take great pride in every step of their process. Their beef never sees the inside of some anonymous slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant, it's all in house, one hundred percent, and they want their customers to know as much as possible about the meat that they consume.
Once you've paid attention to what goes on in the big corporate meatpacking operations, you will understand why small local butcher shops are more important now than ever.

I always prefer supporting local...it is the best way to go...

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

So animal rights should be contingent on the choices consumers make? For example, a lot of people either adopt their dogs from an animal shelter or buy from a reputable breeder. However, plenty of dogs are sold from pet stores that usually get their dogs from puppy mills where the breeding dogs often spend their entire lives in small cages. Should we continue to allow puppy mills and just wait for consumers to all finally be responsible in their purchases?

When people are removed from the ultimate consequences of their choice, they often don't make responsible choices. You see a package of meat in a grocery store, the meat looks the same regardless of whether it came from a small farm that treats livestock humanely or a factory farm that doesn't and most consumers act accordingly. Similarly, when people see a cute puppy in a pet store, they often don't think about the living conditions of the puppy's parents. Ultimately, people often have to be told what to do in order to make better choices.

One thing which is almost impossible to avoid when buying meat from large corporate owned operations is the use of carbon monoxide in the packaging phase of the process.
Carbon monoxide is introduced in what's called "modified atmosphere packaging" and CO is used in order to maintain a "fresh pink color" on meats which historically have had a shorter shelf life.
This controversial process may mask meat spoilage, and that's just downright dangerous, another reason why small local butcher shops are important, and also another reason why certain disruptive markets like plant based meat substitutes and lab grown meat deserve a chance.

I can think of no reason why carbon monoxide packaging is good for the consumer, and yet it is legal to use this process in the USA.
It's just that small local shops don't do it.

 

[Logophile]

The CRT poutrage has run its course, so righties will have a new thing to get poutraged about: BACON!

Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect

The new rules could be a rare case of consumers clearly paying a price for their beliefs.

www.nbcnews.com

To be fair, California voters may have bitten off more than they could chew.

I'm good with this. There's a multitude of reasons to be humane to other species, not in the least because it's the right thing to do. And "righties" in general are just as likely to want kindness toward animals. Aside from which, the healthier the environment, the healthier the animal, so it's good all around. Thanks!!

 

[ElChupacabra]

So my wife wants to move back to central California area at some point in the future, which is only fair because she's had to be dragged around for 20 years for my job moves, so wherever she prefers after I retire from the Army is the priority. I've consoled myself in this move to the left coast because the weather is just so nice but this might be a bridge too far

Boooooo!

Well, from a health perspective, cutting down on pork and eggs is not a bad thing at all.

 

[ElChupacabra]

I agree that what is by Food and Drug standards called "free range" should be the minimum standard. But Free range isn't as open as people may think.

Yep. It's one of those cases where what people imagine the word to mean isn't what the standard prescribe.

 

[ALiberalModerate]

Well, from a health perspective, cutting down on pork and eggs is not a bad thing at all.

Not so much eggs because dietary cholesterol doesn't really impact your cholesterol levels. However, saturated fat does and the nitrates in bacon are terrible for you. Eat all the eggs you want.

Dietary Cholesterol and the Lack of Evidence in Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. For years, dietary cholesterol was implicated in increasing blood cholesterol levels leading to the elevated risk of CVD. To date, extensive research did not show evidence ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[ElChupacabra]

Not so much eggs because dietary cholesterol doesn't really impact your cholesterol levels. However, saturated fat does and the nitrates in bacon are terrible for you. Eat all the eggs you want.

Dietary Cholesterol and the Lack of Evidence in Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. For years, dietary cholesterol was implicated in increasing blood cholesterol levels leading to the elevated risk of CVD. To date, extensive research did not show evidence ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The "how" they're made plays a role here too, and hard boiled doesn't make the popularity cut. Scrambled eggs are the popular choice, which are often prepared with milk and oil/butter added in the process.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Well, from a health perspective, cutting down on pork and eggs is not a bad thing at all.

Eggs are not bad for you.
Even BACON isn't bad for you unless you insist on having it every day, with everything, all the time.
Me, I absolutely LOVE bacon but I decided a long time ago to limit my consumption because it does not actually have all that much nutritional value, and I try to make my breakfasts the most nutritious meal of the day.
I'll never give up bacon entirely but I am not going to cry over having to limit consumption to Sunday morning treats or the occasional cheese BLT.
And again, these new substitutes are pretty durn good to this man's palate, so I am interested in some of them, the ones that are actually somewhat nutritious.

 

[Gatsby]

California with it's liberal wacky laws and regulations is causing people across the entire nation to pay more for food, which is already sky high. California did it with eggs. Largest producer and consumer, and then it caused out of state producers to need to comply with California standards in those other states, or ranchers could not sell in California. Driving prices up for everyone, especially the working poor.

This doesn't make sense to me. Why isn't there room in the market for both California-compliant egg producers that sell their product at an inflated price in California, and non-California-compliant producers who sell to the other 49 states?

And as someone who lives in California, I've always thought that eggs are among the cheapest, best deals in the grocery. You get more nutrients per dollar spent than just about any other food IMO.

 

[highroller]

I'm not against legislating better treatment of animals. I just hope consumers who voted for it are ready to pay more for the products.

I buy whole real milk. Costs me $5.99 for a half gallon. I also buy eggs from hens with an actual pasture. Those are expensive as well. I do this by choice, without the government mandating it.

You are overpaying

 

[ElChupacabra]

Eggs are not bad for you.
Even BACON isn't bad for you unless you insist on having it every day, with everything, all the time.
Me, I absolutely LOVE bacon but I decided a long time ago to limit my consumption because it does not actually have all that much nutritional value, and I try to make my breakfasts the most nutritious meal of the day.
I'll never give up bacon entirely but I am not going to cry over having to limit consumption to Sunday morning treats or the occasional cheese BLT.
And again, these new substitutes are pretty durn good to this man's palate, so I am interested in some of them, the ones that are actually somewhat nutritious.

What changes whether something is good or bad is the frequency of certain foods in your diet. Having a hamburger with everything on it won't be a big deal at all if eaten sparingly; that changes if you it is a regular staple in your diet. I generally eat a vegetable based diet, but will have meat every so often. Coming from a Latino background, most of the cuisine is loaded with starchy, fried foods and meat which for a long time didn't agree with my stomach. Fortunately I got to a point where I found what works for my digestive system and my general well being. I don't think there's a one size fits all, but it's a good thing to be aware of.

 

[Roadvirus]

The CRT poutrage has run its course, so righties will have a new thing to get poutraged about: BACON!

Well, seeing as it'll increase the cost for pork products in California, i'd say they'd have a good reason to bitch about it.

 

[Phys251]

Well, seeing as it'll increase the cost for pork products in California, i'd say they'd have a good reason to bitch about it.

Already addressed in the OP, which you conveniently cut short.

 

[Roadvirus]

The point of the regulation was to improve the conditions in which pigs are raised for slaughter. Clearly, most of the people posting here have no concept of what this is about or the conditions extent. I suggest you visit a farm and learn something of the way we treat animals in this society. You callous indecency is showing.

It still stinks of unnecessary gov't intervention which also teeters on "overreach".

 

[Roadvirus]

Wouldn't it be better if California disappeared and we left pigs alone?

Or at least California Liberals.