The chicken's wingspan is a hot political item this year

[penguin42]

I was thinking of doing one of those "how I'm going to vote on california propositions" posts but honestly I haven't researched them all yet. But I've had one on my mind a lot recently, and I just need to write something about it.f

Comments

[tr2a]

i'm kind of on two sides about it. i got a little miffed at the assumption that all hell would break loose due to open range policies, because i've been to farms where they do it, and it's definitely not sunny and awesome, but it was still better than the battery frustration that we've got going. but that was france, and even if my relatives had a mass production facility, it still paled to the factory farms here, and i doubt very much that industrialized farming would take the additional steps needed to avoid behavioral and disease issues. so i stewed on that for awhile and also the idea that i dont think i've seen a fix-all prop on any issue ever. props have to be propped up with more props. it's convoluted and ineffective but i've assumed that it's pretty much how decent policy eventually clambers its way through in this state.

also, it's not just chickens in mass storage we're dealing with but with other livestock such as cows and pigs, and since these animals are already in close contact freeing them up a bit by taking out the rope that keeps them upright is hard to get critical of. the well reasoned opponents who arent simply shills still very neatly dodge that whole thing

the only thing thats hitched me up from just following my initial "look who supports/hates it and vote accordingly" instinct is the possibility that furnished cages would be out. i dont think many factory farmers would bother with those in the first place anyway, but a possible ban is just begging for an egg on the face (ha) when it might come time to demand something better. however the language of the prop doesnt seem to ban these things either. "Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely."

there should be an "at minimum" inserted between 'that' and 'allow' to reduce ambiguity, but that's how i'm understanding it. confinement is still all in, it just has requirements that ban the ones where nothing moves at all except for the eggs rolling out.

it's an uneasy yes, which is better than the "fuck them assholes" yes i was in when april and i were hacking away at it, but it's still a 'yes'.

[penguin42]

regarding the veal and pregnant pig requirements, i'm completely in favor of that part of the prop. But veal and pork aren't very big industries in california and we're moving away from confined housing for them anyway.