Congresswoman Ashley Hinson
Audio By Carbonatix
Colorado farmers are facing stiff headwinds. This year’s record-low snowpack is squeezing producers across the state and putting added strain on the food supply chain. Now more than ever, Colorado’s congressional delegation should be focused on policies that make it easier — not harder — to produce affordable food.
The 2026 Farm Bill presents one opportunity.
Central to the House-passed version of the legislation is a provision that would fix disruption caused by California’s Proposition 12. The obscure regulation —adopted in California with hardly any input from farmers, veterinarians, or other animal care experts — bans the sale of regular pork products in Golden State supermarkets, limiting shoppers to purchasing expensive, Whole Foods-style products.
The consequences of Prop 12 are cascading towards Colorado.
How? Because California has one of the largest consumer markets in the U.S., pork farmers in other states are forced to retool their entire operations to maintain access to this customer base. Retrofitting farms can cost millions of dollars — a financial burden that falls heavily on smaller farms and could cause many to fold. As more farms descend into bankruptcy and the food market consolidates, consumers will ultimately bear the cost in the form of higher prices.
Colorado farms and ranches are at the mercy of the next ballot initiative in California, which could prohibit beef or lamb raised by local ranchers. Colorado agriculture should not be vulnerable to California’s ballot box.
Coloradans would be best served by healthy competition between many small- to medium-sized farms — a free-market dynamic that would compel food prices to come down. Fortunately, a food price fix in the 2026 Farm Bill, called the “Save Our Bacon Act,” is an opportunity to restore such affordability mechanisms.
The measure would preserve California’s ability to regulate food production standards within its own borders while protecting the ability of farmers and ranchers in Colorado to continue serving consumers across the U.S. without getting the ladder kicked away.
It’s how federalism is intended to function. Every state can adopt policies that best serve its unique citizenry but are free from imposition by other states. Plus, the measure has no shortage of bipartisan support. More than a dozen Democrats joined their Republican colleagues to advance a food price fix to Prop 12 in the House.
Even the Biden administration previously acknowledged Prop 12 needs to be fixed, correctly saying it would create “chaos” in the marketplace.
Agriculture is a pillar of the Colorado economy, generating nearly $50 billion in economic activity and supporting roughly 200,000 jobs. Given its outsized role, Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper should throw their weight behind the 2026 Farm Bill, a Prop 12 fix, and the certainty it provides farmers.
Westword.com frequently publishes opinion pieces and commentaries on matters of interest to the Denver community; the opinions presented belong solely to the authors, not Westword. Have one you’d like to submit? Send it to editorial@westword.com, where you can also comment on this essay.
