California voters’ support for farm animal rights was made clear in 2008 with the landslide victory of Proposition 2, which said animals could not be confined in a way that prevented them from turning around freely, lying down, standing up or fully extending their limbs. The measure won 63 percent of the vote and took on even greater significance when the state Legislature passed a law saying the limits on confinement applied to all food sold in California, not just the products of farms in the Golden State.

Now another measure, once again sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, is on the California ballot. Proposition 12 would require that chickens have a minimum of 1 square foot of confinement space by 2020, with a mandate that all egg-laying hens be cage-free by 2022. It would also require 24 square feet for each breeding pig by 2022 and 43 square feet of space for each calf raised for veal by 2020.

Proposition 12 is expected to pass easily. Not only does it have broad support from the state Democratic Party, the California Labor Federation and a range of civic groups including the League of Women Voters, it’s also backed by some farm interests, including Central Valley Eggs, one of the state’s largest “factory farms.”

But the measure faces criticism on several fronts.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – which formally supports a vegan diet – opposes the measure as providing cover for continuing the human consumption of animals. “Humane labels make consumers feel good about their decisions but perpetuate cruelty to animals,” PETA’s Lindsay Dadko told Governing magazine.“ Cruelty is cruelty is cruelty, and it doesn’t matter what label you put on it.”

State egg production fell 34% after last farming prop

The California Farm Bureau, the state Republican Party and several business groups oppose Proposition 12 as imposing unique burdens on Golden State farms that hurt their ability to export eggs and meat to other states and nations.

According to a 2017 study by Purdue University agriculture researchers, Proposition 2 imposed a 9 percent premium on California egg prices. It is also associated with a drop of 34 percent in egg production – going from 5.3 billion eggs in 2007 to 3.5 billion in 2016.

The state Legislative Analyst’s Office concluded that Proposition 12 was likely to yield higher prices for eggs, pork and veal, mainly because of the cost of building or modifying confinement structures.

But a third faction opposes Proposition 12 on the grounds that it is actually a step back for chickens, at least until the cage-free rule takes effect in 2022. This is based on the idea that state regulators have botched their interpretation of Proposition 2. The Humane Farming Association and other groups say that egg-laying hens when stretching their wings take up at least 2 square feet, and that Proposition 12 – with its 1 square foot requirement – is much worse.

On Friday, during a KQED forum on Proposition 12, Bradley Miller, director of the Humane Farming Association, said, “We can do better. One square foot per hen is cruel. They should have more space than that.”

By Joseph Perkins

Josiah Citrin, owner and chef at Melisse Santa Monica, hosted a special seven-course tasting last night at his Michelin award-winning restaurant. Each dish was prepared by celebrated chefs from around the state using foie gras as an ingredient.

The purpose of the culinary event was to call attention to a pending state law, scheduled to take effect July 1, which would ban the sale or use of the delicacy — made from duck or goose liver –throughout California.

“This is low hanging fruit,” said Chef Citrin. It’s “easy to go after the foie gras.”

Indeed, animal rights activists insist that the method used to produce foie gras, French for “fat liver,” is inhumane.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Pets claims that its secret investigation of Sonoma-Artisan Foie Gras, California’s last producer of the gourmet food item, found ducks “crammed a into filthy, feces ridden shed” as well as “barrels full of dead ducks who had choked to death or whose organs had ruptured during the traumatic forced-feeding process.”

So disturbed were PETA’s investigators that they decided to “rescue” 15 ducks.

Citrin says that he and other chefs endeavor to ensure that the food they serve in their restaurants is produced as humanely as possible.

“All the ingredients that I try to use, I really work hard to find humanely-raised animals by farmers who really care about it,” he said.

And so do other chefs around the state, he said, including those who participated in last night’s tasting at Melisse. They are members of  an advocacy group, the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards (CHEFS), which opposes the pending ban on foie gras.

Rather than outlaw foie gras, CHEFS argued, in a petition it recently delivered to Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, the state should regulate its production.

That would include regular monitoring by animal-welfare authorities, raising geese and ducks in cage-free settings, hand-feeding birds by methods that don’t restrict breathing and limits on the fattening birds.

CHEF’s proposal has been summarily rejected by PETA and other animal-rights groups who insist on nothing short of an outright ban on foie gras. They note that the ban was approved by the Legislature in 2004, but that lawmakers gave Sonoma-Artisan Foie Gras, one of the nation’s largest producers of the delicacy, until this year to comply.

Opponents of the looming ban argue that it’s not just about foie gras, but about the very real prospect that a ban on one food over which special interest groups raise objections will lead to similar bans on other foods.

They note that some activist group or another has raised issues about the method used in production of not only foie gras, but practically every other food — meat as well as vegetable — that may be found on California restaurant menus.