Blog By: Shelton Owen

Animal rights activists scored a win last year with the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold California’s Proposition 12––a law setting minimum space requirements for housing certain farm animals in factories.[i] California-made products and those imported into the state must come from suppliers in compliance with the new law.[ii] However, activists’ celebrations were quickly cut short by the meat industry’s push for several Congress members to introduce legislation known as the EATS Act.[iii] The charge for the Act, formally known as “Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression,” is being led by Republicans Senator Marshall from Kansas and Representative Hinson from Iowa.[iv] The overarching aim of the Act is to limit state control over agricultural standards, such as the regulation of imported produce included in Proposition 12.[v]

The legislation finds its roots in the King Act, previously proposed to waive states from being bound to the agricultural regulations of a state when merely selling their products there.[vi] For example, a farmer in Kentucky housing chickens in cages could sell their eggs in California, even when such practices violate the state’s cage-free laws.[vii] This Act is not meant to stand alone but intends to be incorporated into the Farm Bill, which “outlines how federal dollars are spent to influence food production.”[viii] In recent years, the renewal of the Farm Bill has been a critical time for the farming industry to assert its rights by inserting text into the bill that often conflicts with the animal rights agenda.[ix] Using vague language, the proposed legislation “opens up significant questions of interpretation—and creates the potential to widen the scope.”[x]

Anti-Prop 12 lobbyists claim the bill impedes farmers’ rights and pushes a moral agenda.[xi] Consumers will suffer the consequences of increased regulation by paying higher prices for animal products.[xii] Senator Marshall boasts of the EATS Act’s ability to restore state autonomy.[xiii] As Marshall exclaims, “The last thing we need is a big state like California imposing its will on ag-heavy states like Kansas with regulations that will also restrict our ability to trade among the states.”[xiv] A fellow Senator warns against bills like Prop 12 that could “directly disrupt . . . producers’ ability to feed the nation.”[xv] States most involved in the farming industry should be writing the rulebook, not lawmakers “who don’t know the first thing about farming or raising animals.”[xvi] While California consumes around 15% of the nation’s pork supply, it only produces 1%, thus relying on other states to supplement.[xvii] The President of the American Farm Bureau praises the proposal, thanking lawmakers for “seeking ways to ensure grocery store shelves and meat cases across the country do not go bare, and that farmers and ranchers have open access to reach all American consumers.”[xviii]

Those opposed to the EATS Act claim ethics are taking a backseat to economics.[xix] The Act threatens states’ rights, consumers’ safety, and farmers’ livelihoods by undermining voters’ decision to tighten the reins in their own state.[xx] Rather than rewarding those farmers who have taken progressive steps towards updating their operations in compliance with state laws, those with inhumane or environmentally unfriendly methods will be the ones with heavier pockets.[xxi] Why would farmers be motivated to comply with their states’ regulations when an out-of-state farmer abiding by lower standards could sell their produce in that state just the same? Activists fear the passage of the EATS Act would set a detrimental precedent going forward and undo decades of reform.[xxii]

From a public health perspective, opponents emphasize the looming threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks and African swine fever.[xxiii] While sanitation and disease safeguards currently keep the risk of zoonoses at bay, the Executive Director of the Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard University warns, “because such inspection and sanitation requirements would qualify as ‘preharvest’ ‘standards or conditions,’ they easily could be challenged.”[xxiv]

As things currently stand, the date of final passage for the 2023 Farm Bill remains unknown. Now, well into 2024, even Congress’ short-term measures will soon run their course as funding dries up.[xxv] Many agricultural programs will be thrown into chaos without guidance on how to proceed financially or administratively.[xxvi] A perfect world would strike a balance between best practices, meeting the population’s food supply demands, and ensuring American farms’ survival. Rome wasn’t built in a day, though, and expecting small farming operations to cough up the funds to comply with California law before they can access their consumers is unrealistic. While concerns regarding the Act are undoubtedly valid, they assume a worst-case scenario. Given the checks and balances of our governmental system, a world where zoonoses run rampant, and animal rights are overthrown is still a very distant horror. The Farm Bill could create revolutionary changes in the agricultural industry.[xxvii] However, the question remains: will the scale tip in favor of progressive ideas or putting food on the table?

[i] Natalie Alms, The EATS Act explained: The latest threat to farmed animals, Animal Equal. (Dec. 27, 2023), https://animalequality.org/blog/2023/07/28/eats-act-explained/ [https://perma.cc/V2HM-HF38].

[ii] Id.

[iii] Id.

[iv] Id.

[v] Id.

[vi] Id.

[vii] See id.

[viii] Id.

[ix] Hannah Truxell & Conor Lamkin, WHAT IS THE ENDING AGRICULTURAL TRADE SUPPRESSION (EATS) ACT? HOW DOES IT HARM ANIMALS?, The Humane League (June 27, 2023), https://thehumaneleague.org/article/eats-act [https://perma.cc/4A39-F3ZY].

[x] Id.

[xi] Danielle Nierenberg, The EATS Act Jeopardizes Animal Welfare And Human Health, Forbes (Sept. 29, 2023), https://www.forbes.com/sites/daniellenierenberg/2023/09/29/the-eats-act-jeopardizes-animal-welfare-and-human-health/?sh=2d7adfee7d67 [https://perma.cc/H4JQ-C364].

[xii] Id.

[xiii] Sen. Marshall Announces Introduction of EATS Act to Ensure State’s Autonomy over Agricultural Practices, Doc Marshall (June 15, 2023), https://www.marshall.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-marshall-announces-introduction-of-eats-act-to-ensure-states-autonomy-over-agricultural-practices/ [https://perma.cc/FG2T-KF7U].

[xiv] Id.

[xv] Id.

[xvi] Id.

[xvii] Hinson Leads Charge Against Prop 12 Bacon Ban, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (July 5, 2023), https://hinson.house.gov/media/press-releases/hinson-leads-charge-against-prop-12-bacon-ban [https://perma.cc/U78B-YATV].

[xviii] Id.

[xix] Supra note i.

[xx] Id.

[xxi] Supra note xi.

[xxii] Id.

[xxiii] Id.

[xxiv] Id.

[xxv] The 2023 Farm Bill: Coming to Congress in . . . 2024?, ASPCA (Oct. 4, 2023), https://www.aspca.org/news/2023-farm-bill-coming-congress-2024 [https://perma.cc/LS76-5QRW].

[xxvi] Id.

[xxvii] Supra note ix.