When it comes to American security in the twenty-first century, there is nothing more important than how we are protecting ourselves from fundamental threats. These threats often come in a variety of different forms and from a handful of particularly adversarial nations. But no nation is more consistently or aggressively seeking to supplant America on the world stage than China.
From the theft of intellectual property to cyberattacks or military provocations, many of China’s instigations are widely covered and well known. But as we saw with the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the greatest threats we face from China can go under the radar until it is too late and the damage is already done.
One particular area where Americans likely do not appreciate the current threat that we face is within our food supply. For example, in 2021, China accounted for nearly 42% of the total pork production in the world. Notably, the Chinese have significantly increased their share of worldwide pork production in recent decades, jumping up from the 18 to 19 percent range in the late 1970s.
Not only is China producing more pork than ever before, the Chinese are also taking a stake in American pork production as well – a major stake. The largest pork producer in the United States, Smithfield, is now owned by a Chinese company. Conveniently, that company, WH Group, also owns China’s largest meat processing company. As of 2015, one in every four pigs raised in the United States is owned by a Chinese company. And as we well know at this point, Chinese companies, particularly those that do business with America, are operating at the behest of the Chinese Communist Party.
This should concern every American. While leaders might tell us there is nothing to see here, the fact China is so involved in the American food supply and has such a say in the safety of the food we consume daily should be enough to at least raise an eyebrow or two.
Just this week, traces of foot-and-mouth disease were found in pork products that were imported to Australia from China.
While it’s the government’s duty to protect us from foreign threats, sometimes it is up to us, the voters, to take matters into our own hands. That’s exactly what we’ve seen voters in California do when they passed Proposition 12 in 2018.
Passing this legislation was a crucial step in protecting Californians from the food security, and national security, threats we are all facing today. Proposition 12 places parameters on the way pigs are raised if they are being sold for pork in California.
Instead of the unhealthy, unsanitary, confined conditions we frequently see from multinational pork-producing conglomerates – and that became a popular practice in China during the country’s rise as a pork-producing giant – pork sold in California must come from pigs that are raised in conditions that inhibit the spread of bacteria and diseases that can be spread to humans.
Unfortunately, the multinational pork-producing conglomerates, with heavy Chinese influence, have challenged Proposition 12. Now, National Pork Producers Council v. Ross is heading to the United States Supreme Court this October.
We know the Chinese are bad actors who are as methodical as they are ruthless in their quest for world power, and they view America as their biggest hurdle. Leaving our food security in their hands is a national security threat no different than handing them over the blueprints for our top-secret military technology.
The days of capitulating to hostile foreign adversaries and multinational corporations are over. Knowing what’s at stake, there is no justification for the Supreme Court to side any other way than with the voters of California who have acted in protection of their food safety and American national security.
Benji Backer is a leading voice for conservative climate and environmental action among America's youth. He serves on the American Academy of Arts and Sciences' Climate Commission and the American Conservation Coalition's Board of Directors.