Pork, Power, and Profits: How the Industry Keeps Its Piggy Bank Full
From breakfast sausage to pulled pork sliders, the pork industry has long had a seat at the American dinner table—and in the halls of political power. But as public opinion shifts toward animal welfare, environmental protection, and plant-based eating, pork producers aren’t going quietly. In fact, they’re doubling down.
This is the story of an industry fighting to protect its profits—not through innovation or compassion, but through aggressive lobbying, misleading marketing, and a stubborn disregard for ethics, the environment, and the health of future generations.
Feeding the Machine
Pork is big business—and the profits are just as big. Smithfield Foods—the largest pork producer in the United States—runs a fully vertically-integrated supply chain, from breeding to deli counters. That model has generated more than $1 billion in profit for three straight years, with its packaged-meats unit posting a record haul in 2024 [1]. And zooming out, the broader U.S. pork industry brought in more than $27 billion in hog market receipts and generated roughly $62 billion in total output—an economic engine powered by factory farming and global trade [2].
The result? A financial machine that feeds itself, growing on the back of industrialized animal production while externalizing its costs to workers, communities, animals, and the environment.
But profit protection doesn’t stop at infrastructure. It’s also a battle of perception—and the pork industry has long invested in shaping how we see meat itself.
Branding the “Better” Meat
For decades, pork has been marketed as “Pork. The Other White Meat” [3], a branding effort designed to frame it as a lean, healthy alternative to beef. The message? Pork belongs next to chicken, not red meat, on your plate [4]. Because, of course, pigs are basically birds—if you ignore the part where they don’t hatch from eggs.
More recently, the industry has taken that narrative further—funding scientific research to reinforce its image. Most notably, a study backed by the National Pork Checkoff compares pork to plant-based staples like legumes, highlighting protein content while downplaying the much larger environmental footprint of industrial pork [5].
But these comparisons are deeply misleading. Unlike legumes—which enrich soil, require minimal inputs, and produce negligible greenhouse gases—industrial pork production contributes significantly to climate change, water pollution, and land degradation. From manure management to feed cultivation, pork’s environmental footprint is anything but benign [6].
And the health story isn’t much better. A 2025 meta-analysis found significantly increased rates of colorectal cancer among those who consumed higher amounts of processed meat [7], while a 2023 review in the European Heart Journal reported reported a statistically significant increase in cardiovascular-disease risk for every 50 g of processed red meat eaten daily, and also found smaller yet significant associations for unprocessed red meat [8]. No amount of ad spend can transform a carcinogen-labeled sausage into a health food. The “other white meat” slogan isn’t just spin—it’s a smokescreen.
Still, when marketing and cherry-picked science aren’t enough, the industry reaches for something even more powerful: legislation.
Aggressive Political Tactics: Fighting Reform in the Courts and Congress
When faced with cultural shifts and rising plant-based alternatives, the industry doesn’t adapt—it sues, lobbies, and pressures lawmakers into protecting its profits. Take language restrictions: a recent Swiss Supreme Court ruling, cheered on by meat lobbyists, bans plant-based products from using terms like “vegan bacon” or “plant-based sausage” [9]. It’s a calculated move to limit the clarity and appeal of animal-free alternatives—not by improving pork, but by legislating the competition into silence.
The industry’s hostility to progress doesn’t stop at semantics. When California voters passed Proposition 12 to mandate more humane conditions for pigs—such as banning the use of tiny gestation crates—pork producers didn’t reform their operations. Instead, they launched a federal campaign to override the law entirely, asking Congress to strip states of their right to set higher animal welfare standards [10].
This isn’t innovation. It’s obstruction—corporate rulemaking masquerading as policy.
Environmental Consequences? Business as Usual
And while they’re fighting reform in courtrooms and legislatures, pork producers continue expanding their physical footprint—at the planet’s expense.
In the midst of a global climate crisis, companies like JBS are pouring resources into massive new slaughterhouses—like the $135 million pork plant currently under construction in Iowa [11]. These facilities contribute to widespread water contamination, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Manure lagoons emit methane and nitrous oxide, while runoff fouls groundwater and waterways—spreading pathogens, nutrients, antibiotics, hormones, and heavy metals into nearby ecosystems and communities [12, 13].
The pork industry isn't just ignoring sustainability—it’s actively undermining it.
And if there’s one thing it fears more than regulation or competition, it’s a generation that sees through the charade.
Hooking the Next Generation
Perhaps the most telling move of all is the industry’s effort to win over Gen Z, a demographic known for its skepticism of animal agriculture. In a desperate bid to appear relevant, the National Pork Board has launched a multi-platform campaign filled with social media influencers, feel-good farm videos, and glossy lifestyle content [14].
They’ve sponsored “My Life as a Pig Farmer” reels on TikTok, recruited young creators to post pork-forward recipes on Instagram, and even partnered with e-sports and gaming platforms to reach teens in their digital habitats. The goal? Normalize pork as part of Gen Z identity before they can make more informed, values-driven choices.
This isn’t education—it’s indoctrination disguised as content.
Conclusion: The System Is the Problem
The pork industry’s tactics make one thing clear: this isn’t a sector interested in evolving. It’s interested in entrenching. From regulatory rollbacks and semantic warfare to aggressive marketing and political lobbying, pork producers are pulling every lever they can to keep the piggy bank full—no matter the cost to animals, people, or the planet.
Consumers deserve better. And so do the pigs.
Dig Deeper
Curious about how food companies shape the narrative around what’s “healthy” and “sustainable”? Dr. Marion Nestle’s Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat is a must-read. It uncovers how corporate funding influences research, public perception, and even government dietary advice—often in ways that serve profits more than public health. Available on Amazon
References
[1] Zimmerman, S. (2025, April 2). Smithfield sells off pigs as attention turns toward lunch meats. Food Dive. https://www.fooddive.com/news/smithfield-sells-pigs-lunch-deli-meat/744205/
[2] National Pork Producers Council. (2024, July 23). U.S. pork industry fuels American jobs and economic growth: New report unveiled [Press release]. https://nppc.org/news/nppc-economic-contribution-report-7-23-24/
[3] Pork. The Other White Meat. (2025, June 18 update). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork._The_Other_White_Meat
[4] National Pork Board. (2025, March 25). Pork similar to poultry and legumes on key sustainability and agricultural resource indicators [EurekAlert! news release]. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1077701
[5] Conrad, Z., Repoulis, V., & Zavela, C. (2025). Modelled sustainability impacts of increasing pork consumption among adults in the United States. Frontiers in Nutrition, 11, 1508601. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2024.1508601
[6] Hietala, S., Usva, K., Vieraankivi, M.-L., et al. (2024). Environmental sustainability of Finnish pork production: Life-cycle assessment of climate-change and water-scarcity impacts. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 29(3), 483–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-023-02258-7
[7] Ungvari, Z., Fekete, M., Varga, P., et al. (2025). Association between red and processed meat consumption and colorectal cancer risk: A comprehensive meta-analysis of prospective studies. GeroScience. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-025-01646-1
[8] Shi, W., Huang, X., Schooling, C. M., & Zhao, J. V. (2023). Red meat consumption, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Heart Journal, 44(28), 2626–2635. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad336
[9] Keller & Heckman LLP. (2025, May 30). Swiss Federal Supreme Court bans references to animals in plant-based foods. The National Law Review. https://natlawreview.com/article/swiss-federal-supreme-court-bans-references-animals-plant-based-foods
[10] Held, L. (2025, May 6). The pork industry asks Congress to overturn Prop 12 – again. Civil Eats. https://civileats.com/2025/05/06/opponents-of-prop-12-ask-congress-to-overturn-it-again/
[11] Zimmerman, S. (2025, June 2). JBS USA to build $135 M sausage plant in Iowa. Food Dive. https://www.fooddive.com/news/jbs-pork-plant-iowa-135m-manufacturing-plant/749553/
[12] Pedrozo-Acuña, A., Ramírez-Salinas, N., & Vázquez-Bustos, C. (2025). Water sustainability criteria to regulate the proliferation of pig farms on a karst aquifer. Sustainability, 17(7), 3069. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073069
[13] Wing, S., & Wolf, S. (2000). Intensive livestock operations, health, and quality of life among eastern North Carolina residents. Environmental Health Perspectives, 108(3), 233–238. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.00108233
[14] Adelman, R. (2025, June 4). Inside National Pork Board’s Gen Z campaign. FoodNavigator-USA. https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2025/06/04/inside-national-pork-boards-campaign-to-reintroduce-pork-to-gen-z
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