Boston Herald Letter to the Editor: When State Laws Cross State Lines

Boston Herald Letter to the Editor: When State Laws Cross State Lines

A recent opinion column (“The hidden costs of ‘Saving Our Bacon,” April 7) frames the Farm Bill debate as a choice between innovation and federal overreach. That misses the more important question: how should a national food system work?

The issue before Congress is straightforward. With laws like Massachusetts Question 3, should one state be able to use its market to control how farmers in other states raise animals?

American food production is a national enterprise. Farmers in Iowa and North Carolina sell into markets in Massachusetts, California, and every state in between. When production, processing, and distribution cross state lines, a patchwork of conflicting requirements does not create innovation. It creates cost, complexity, and uncertainty, especially for smaller producers.

Massachusetts has already seen how far this can reach. As Question 3 was implemented, it raised concerns not just about what is sold here, but about pork moving through the Commonwealth to other states. Regulators had to step in to avoid disrupting interstate shipments. That is the line between state policy and interstate commerce.

None of this prevents states from setting standards within their own borders. But when those standards begin to govern production and distribution beyond the state, the issue is no longer local. It is interstate commerce. That is where Congress has a role under the Commerce Clause.

States’ rights matter — when each state governs only itself.

Andy Curliss

Chairman, Carver Center for Agriculture & Nutrition

View the article at https://www.bostonherald.com/2026/04/12/letters-to-the-editor-771/