2026-05-02
Yesterday (Friday May 1st, 2026) the House passed the 2026 Farm Bill, a sprawling piece of legislation reauthorized every five years that sets regulations on a panoply of food and agriculture matters, including SNAP, crop insurance, and regulations on biofuel. Part of this bill includes the controversial Save Our Bacon Act, which would prevent state governments from regulating agricultural products produced out-of-state.
The Save Our Bacon Act is important as it would invalidate major animal welfare reforms such as California's Proposition 12 and Massachusetts' Question 3 which provide protections for factory-farmed animals and outlaw the most inhumane forms of caging and confinement. Both ballot measures were passed with overwhelming public support and provide some of the most meaningful protections for factory-farmed animals in the US, which lacks substantial animal welfare regulation at the federal level.
This is a straightforward case of federal overreach. If passed, the bill would directly overrule the choices made by voters in several states to protect animals that can't stand up for themselves. The Senate is expected to take up the bill next month. You can stand up for the animals affected by this legislature by calling the US Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and telling your senator to vote No on the Farm Bill so long as it includes this act.