California restaurant owners fear bacon may become scarce - or even disappear - as new animal-welfare rules takes affect, reports say

A closeup of four strips of bacon cooking in their own grease — Animal welfare campaigners have been pushing for change for years.
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New California animal-welfare rules could make bacon harder to find, AP reported.
The rules were approved by voters in 2018 but are raising fears now due to their potential impact.
They require more space for breeding pigs and veal calves and will take effect next January.
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A change in animal-welfare rules could make bacon difficult to find and more expensive to buy, reports say.

At the beginning of next year, California will enforce the welfare proposition, which was approved by voters in 2018. The Farm Animal Confinement Proposition requires more space for breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens, and veal calves.

The idea is that all of those animals should have sufficient space to stretch out their wings, claws, and paws, as Insider's Hilary Brueck reported. Welfare campaigners have been pushing for the change for years.

Back in 2018, Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement: "California voters have sent a loud and clear message that they reject cruel cage confinement in the meat and egg industries."

Between now and January, courts or the state could try and intervene. But if they don't, California is expected to lose almost all of its pork supply and pork producers will likely face higher costs to regain the market, according to AP.

Once the amount of time needed to build new facilities and inseminate sows is factored in, it is unlikely the pork industry will be able to supply California, AP reports.

"We are very concerned about the potential supply impacts and therefore cost increases," said Matt Sutton, the public policy director for the California Restaurant Association, told AP.

Jeannie Kim, a San Francisco restaurant owner, also told AP: "Our number one seller is bacon, eggs and hash browns. It could be devastating for us," she said.

The outlet reported that California restaurants and grocery stores use about 255 million pounds of pork per month, but its farms only produce only 45 million pounds.

To fill the gap, The National Pork Producers Council asked the US Department of Agriculture for federal support to help pay for rebuilding pig facilities. But they haven't complied because California hasn't yet issued formal regulations on how the new standards will be enforced, according to AP.

As Insider's Anna Cooban reported, bacon costs are already rising - it now costs 13% more than last year, which is apparently due to supply shortages and rising costs of pig feed. The cost of bacon rose 1.8% between April and May, according to BLS data, although this was a slower increase than March to April, when bacon prices jumped 3.4%.

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