Big Pork States Hate Our Pork Law: MA Food Week

MASSACHUSETTS — Welcome to Patch's weekly round up of food and restaurant news in Massachusetts, where we review openings, closings and more in the state's dining scene.

This week, a handful of states that produce a lot of the pork products we consume in Massachusetts backed a lawsuit challenging a voter-approved animal rights law that went into effect in August. Under the law, pigs being raised to produce meat must have a sufficient amount of space, or those products can't be sold in Massachusetts.

Top pork producers including Iowa (No. 2 in the U.S.), Nebraska and Missouri — and also New Hampshire, although it's not a major pork producer — filed a brief in support of the Triumph Foods lawsuit seeking an end to the Massachusetts law. The big pork states (plus New Hampshire, because they don't like us) compared our law to a landlocked state wanting to regulate seafood.

"Suppose Iowa voters began to worry about overfishing and the inhumane harvesting of Atlantic shellfish. So the Iowa legislature passes a law about how lobsters, claims, and steamers must be harvested to be lawfully sold in the State. For example, lobsters must be able to turn around in the lobster cages that capture them. Perhaps the Atlantic fishermen think that the rules are unworkable and would dramatically raise the cost of otherwise ethical fishing," the brief said.

The Massachusetts pork law is still in effect while the Triumph lawsuit proceeds

Here's what else was cooking in Patch communities across Massachusetts:

• In Falmouth, A Delay In Oystering For West Falmouth Harbor
• New Coffee Shop Coming To Milford Commercial Plaza
• Duck Donuts Grand Opening In Walpole
• Peabody's Bell Inn & Tavern Brings Classic Touch To Historic Building
• Sweet Teeth: Salem's Harbor Sweets Opens New Beverly Artisan Chocolate Store
• Burlington Mall Gets Brazilian Grill [Boston Restaurant Talk]

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