Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) generated significant media attention with her successful MAHA-backed work to remove pro-pesticide policies from the House version of the Farm Bill. But despite attracting less attention, her rejected amendment to remove the so-called Save Our Bacon Act may prove to be even more consequential for congressional Republicans.The SOB Act is a provision that was inserted into the House version of the Farm Bill that would nullify state laws setting for how animals are treated, particularly with regard to how much space pigs in factory farm confinement are allowed (laws such as California’s Prop. 12, for example, mandate that pork sold in California be derived from pigs that have enough space to at least stand up and turn around). It is the exact type of consumer-be-damned special-interest-catering swamp provision that ignited the MAHA movement into action against the pro-pesticide policies, but with the added features of entrenching widespread animal cruelty and supplanting state laws across the country with federal regulations that solely benefit the largest industrial agriculture operations (including, most alarmingly, China-owned Smithfield Foods).
As evidenced by the grassroots effort that led to her pesticide victory, Luna has been consistently adept at staying in touch with her voter base and with the MAHA movement in particular. Her opposition to the SOB Act should signal enough where the populist sentiment is, but more evidence is not hard to find.
