Will new bacon law begin? California grocers seek delay

A hog walks in a holding pen on the Ron Mardesen farm, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, near Elliott, Iowa. A coalition of California restaurants and grocery stores has filed a lawsuit to block implementation of a farm animal welfare law, adding to uncertainty about whether bacon and other fresh pork products will be prohibitively expensive or available at all in the state when the new rules take effect on New Year's Day. Mardesen already meets the California standards for the hogs he sells to specialty meat company Niman Ranch, which supported passage of Proposition 12 and requires all of its roughly 650 hog farmers to give breeding pigs far more room than mandated by the law. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)