• Home
    • About
      • Home
      • About the Site
      • The Authors
      • Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
      • Email me
    • Reviews
      • List of All Reviews
      • Best of Portland by year
        • Reader Survey: Best of Portland Food 2017
        • Best of Portland 2015
      • Steakhouse Roundup
        • Steakhouse Reviews Introduction
        • El Gaucho Steakhouse
        • Morton’s Steakhouse
        • Ringside Steakhouse
        • Ruth’s Chris
        • Steakhouse – Results
      • Product/Business Reviews
        • Retailer Reviews
        • Product Reviews
    • Topics
      • Memorials
      • Food Memories
      • Travel Writing
      • Food Writing
        • Alcohol Related
          • Beer
          • Wine
          • Spirits
        • April Fools Stories For Portland
        • Contests and Competition
      • Authors / Book Reviews
      • Cheese information
      • Interviews: Honest dialog with people in the Portland food industry
      • Recipes
    • Guides
      • Guide to Portland coffee
        • Portland Coffee Guide
        • A Map of our favorite Portland coffeehouses
        • Reader Survey: Best Coffeehouses in Portland 2017
      • Guide to Local Wine Shops
      • Guide to Portland Bakeries
      • Guide to Portland Distilleries
      • Guide to Portland’s Beer Shops
    Portland Food and Drink

    Portland Food and Drink

    Restaurant News and Information For Portland Oregon Area Restaurants and Bars

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Send me email!

    California Sued for Requiring That Chickens Have Room to Move

    By PDX Food Dude Last Update March 16, 2014 5 Comments

    The Missouri attorney general has sued the state of California over a new requirement that chicken cages provide enough room for a chicken to move its limbs. The new regulation is the result of a 2008 ballot initiative requiring “simple, common decency for farm animals: egg-laying hens, pigs, and calves should be afforded enough space to lie down, stand up, turn around and fully extend their limbs”.

    Missouri “farmers” produce about 1.7 billion eggs a year, with the bulk of them raised in cages that would be outlawed under the initiative.

    From the Christian Science Monitor –

    Koster said Tuesday that the California law infringes on the interstate commerce protections of the US Constitution by effectively imposing new requirements on out-of-state farmers.

    “If California legislators are permitted to mandate the size of chicken coops on Missouri farms, they may just as easily demand that Missouri soybeans be harvested by hand or that Missouri corn be transported by solar-powered trucks,” Koster said.

    One more reason to buy local!

    Related

    Category: Portland Food and Restaurant News and Discussion.

    Previous Post: « Entry group #3 for Creative Writing Contest 2014!
    Next Post: Taqueria Nueve Reopens in Southeast Portland »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. hsawtelle says

      February 7, 2014 at 8:24 am

      I think their legal theory is flawed, although I can’t find the complaint online. We’ll see.

      Reply
    2. Tommy says

      February 13, 2014 at 4:54 am

      Am I missing something here? How would California’s regulations possibly have any influence over how they do things in Missouri?

      Reply
      • hsawtelle says

        February 13, 2014 at 8:52 am

        Because the law prohibits the sale of eggs in California that are not produced in accordance with the law (X amount of room for the chickens etc.). Missouri is a huge egg exporter and a huge portion of them go to California. So if the law stands, Missouri has to either spend more to produce eggs, or forego the California sales.

        Similar to how the California Air Resources Board rules effectively raised the emissions standards for all auto makers selling in the U.S. There’s not much point in importing or selling a product nationally if it can’t be sold in California.

        The legal fight is about the commerce clause of the Constitution – whether Cali is illegally discriminating against out-of-state businesses.

        Reply
        • PDX Food Dude says

          February 13, 2014 at 10:37 am

          Exactly what I was going to say. I read something about 540 million eggs being exported to California.
          Thanks sawtelle!

        • hsawtelle says

          February 13, 2014 at 2:22 pm

          What I’m curious about is how they’ll enforce it. Proving chain of custody from the farm to the market? California inspectors on Missouri farms? I’m sure the bureaucracy will handle this efficiently…

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    © 2023 · PortlandFoodandDrink.com • See Terms of Service and Privacy Policy