Dear Friends,
Please find attached our new research related to egg prices and industrial agriculture as it relates to claims made in the robust debate surrounding State Question 777. As ever, our goal is discern fact from fiction in a nonpartisan manner. We believe the two attached sheets with infographics reveal a compelling (there’s that word!) snapshot of what’s really happening with regard to food prices. A hat tip to our director of education, Brian Ted Jones, for the deep dive and ensuing analysis into these figures.
A key point of dispute in the debate over State Question 777 is whether pro-animal protections lead to higher food prices. There’s been specific attention paid to the price of eggs in California since the 2008 passage of pro-animal Proposition 2, and its implementation in early 2015. The infographics below present data on egg prices nationally, and in California, to bring factual clarity to this important discussion.
Also, we have the claim that industrial agriculture—in particular, concentrated animal feeding operations—keep food prices down. These graphs show the change in food prices for select poultry and swine commodities in the Southern Region of the US (which includes Oklahoma) beginning in 1992, the year after Oklahoma first allowed concentrated pork and chicken production.
As ever, please let me or Brian know if you have questions, comments, or feedback about the research and analysis we provide, and please feel free to share.
Best personal regards,
Louisa
Louisa McCune
Executive Director
louisa@kirkpatrickfoundation.com
(405) 608-0934
