Smith-Blackmore

The pork industry lost with voters. Lost at the Supreme Court. So they turned to Congress—and got the "Save Our Bacon" Act buried in the House Farm Bill. It's the biggest rollback of animal welfare protections in U.S. history. A thread. 🧵

Tucked inside the farm bill the House passed Thursday is a provision that would likely gut state bans on the sale of horse meat from Texas to Illinois. The Save Our Bacon Act is meant to wipe out state bans on the sale of pork from crated pigs. But its text is much broader. It bars states from regulating the sale of all meat from "covered livestock" based on how it was produced elsewhere. Horses raised for slaughter fit the bill's definition of "covered livestock". So its plain text would force states to allow horse meat sales, invalidating bans like Texas's -- on the books since 1949. I doubt the reps who voted for the farm bill knew it would do this. But they knew it would wipe out state crate bans. And they didn't care enough to ask what else would go with them.