That’s okay, Silicon Valley folx only eat soy “bakken”, and few of them work in packing plants
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harsh bud, dude
Smithfields Inc., the largest pork packer in the United States, is leaving California due to high operational costs and red tape.
“Smithfield Foods, Inc. today announced that it will cease all harvest and processing operations in Vernon, California in early 2023 and, at the same time, align its hog production system by reducing its sow herd in its Western region,” the company said on Friday in a statement.
Smithfield also plans to reduce its sow herd in Utah and exit its farms in Arizona and California.
Instead, the company will serve California customers with its Farmer John brand and other brands and products from current facilities in the Midwest.
“Smithfield is taking these steps due to the escalating cost of doing business in California,” the company explained.
The company, owned by Hong Kong-listed WH Group Ltd., said that workers at the plant will be offered financial and transition assistance, including the option to relocate to other Smithfield facilities.
Jim Monroe, vice president for corporate affairs of Smithfield, said two main factors drove the company’s decision: high costs and overregulation.
“The cost of doing business in California is significantly higher than other states where we operate. Utilities, for example, are 3.5 times per head higher than our other location where we do the same work. Taxes and other costs are significantly higher,” he told The Epoch Times.
Meanwhile, it’s also challenging to operate in the Golden State because of the red tape.
He cited Proposition 12, a state law passed by voters in 2018, as a prime example.
Propositions 12—an animal protection bill backed by the Humane Society—mandates factory farms to give hens, sows, and veal calves enough room to stand up, lie down, turn around, and stretch their limbs without hitting the sides of a cage.
The law also implements a sales ban against noncompliant animal products including eggs, pork, and veal, from out of state.
…Given that California comprises only 8–9% of the market for North American pork, we expect that many primary processing operations (slaughter plants) will choose not to acquire the costly Prop 12-compliant hogs. These plants will avoid the added costs of identifying, segregating, tracing, and labeling the compliant pork separately from the rest of their production.
…..
We estimate the cost of Prop 12 to California consumers is $320 million annually, through paying about 8% more for uncooked pork cuts and consuming about 6% less of that pork.
The trendy “farm to door” meat purveyor Belcampo has admitted to misrepresenting the origin of meats sold at a store in Santa Monica, after an employee posted an Instagram video that charged the company’s products were not all they claimed to be.
The San Francisco Bay Area-born company is well known for its high-end butcher shops, where organic beef and other meats can sell for over $30 a pound. It’s website promises that its meat comes from vetted partner farms –“meat you can trust start to finish” – and says it tracks its animals “from birth to butchery to your plate”.
But the company found itself in hot water earlier this week after a former employee of the Santa Monica Belcampo store, who identified himself only as Evan, posted what he claimed were photos of a plastic-wrapped roast from an Australian meat company, boxes of supermarket-brand chicken and a freezer-style turkey, taken in what appeared to be the backroom of a company store.
“This company claims to be selling meat from their farm. It’s not true,” he said. “The filet you’re buying for $47.99 is from Tasmania. Don’t let these people take your money.”
“I apologize to all the customers that I lied to for the past 2 and a half years in order to keep my job,” he said.
…. The company has become a cult favorite of meat-lovers around the US, selling products from its own farms and “a carefully curated network of certified farmers”. It also operates a subscription meat delivery service, as well as stores and restaurants around California.
The company’s statement said that the employee who posted the video had recently been terminated and the practices in the Santa Monica store had been corrected.
(yes, we know that a melting iceberg, like a melting ice cube, won’t raise the water level, but run with us here — Ed.)
