Satriale’s Pork Store aside, New Jersey isn’t exactly a powerhouse of hog production. Iowa’s (mostly factory-scale) hog farms hold more than a million breeding sows—pigs that exist to give birth to baby pigs, that in turn get funneled into enormous facilities to be transformed into bacon, ham, and chops. New Jersey? The state houses fewer than 1,000 breeding sows. So why did the state’s famously pugnacious governor bother to veto a bill—overwhelmingly passed by the state legislature—that would ban the egregious practice of housing pregnant sows in crates so tight they can’t turn around (a topic I’ve explored here and here). Jon Stewart has answers. Spoiler: Christie’s absurd maneuver has to do with presidential ambition and a key early primary held in a certain hog-heavy state.
