Noah Smith
· Noahpinion
· May 31, 2026 at 08:38
· ⏱ 12 min read
| Read on Substack ↗
Summary
The author argues that the mass torture of pigs in factory farms is a moral sin and that federal legislation (the Save Our Bacon Act, attached to the Farm Bill) threatens to override state-level animal welfare laws like California's Proposition 12. The article urges readers to call their senators to strip the provision from the Farm Bill, but offers no market-relevant analysis or trades.
•73 million pigs are kept in concentrated animal feeding operations (factory farms) in the U.S., with sows confined to gestation/farrowing crates where they cannot turn around.
•California's Proposition 12, passed in 2018 by a 2-to-1 margin, restricts the sale of meat from pigs, hens, and calves raised without minimum space, and was upheld by courts.
•The Save Our Bacon Act, originally proposed in 2025, was added to the Farm Bill in 2026; the House passed the bill, and it is now being considered in the Senate.
•A Harris Poll survey found that 66% of regular pork buyers find gestation crates objectionable and 73% are more likely to buy pork from companies committed to ending their use.
•After California's Prop 12, prices of affected pork products rose about 20%, a one-time bump that could decrease as farmers find more efficient humane methods.