{"id":179942,"date":"2021-01-28T18:06:37","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T02:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eugeneweekly.wpengine.com\/?p=181131"},"modified":"2021-01-28T18:06:37","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T02:06:37","slug":"not-your-everyday-pork-bill-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/28\/not-your-everyday-pork-bill-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Your Everyday Pork Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

No, state Rep. Marty Wilde doesn\u2019t want to take your bacon away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the 2021 legislative session in full (remote) work swing, Wilde Introduced <\/span>House Bill 2348<\/span><\/a>. The bill makes plant-based meals available for people in Oregon prisons and hospitals. A similar bill was introduced during the 2019 legislative session.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Jan. 27, the conservative blog <\/span>Oregon Catalyst<\/span><\/a><\/em> posted a story alleging Wilde\u2019s bill is going to take bacon away from dying patients at hospitals, adding that a \u201ccriminal on death row would have more rights to a last meal\u201d than someone in hospice.<\/span><\/p>\n

If passed today, the bill would indeed prohibit processed meats at hospitals, but the bill\u2019s sausage-making process isn\u2019t over yet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wilde, who represents parts of Lane and Linn counties, tells <\/span>Eugene Weekly <\/span><\/i>the bill\u2019s language will change soon. He tells <\/span>EW<\/span><\/i> in an email that he is working on an amendment to the bill and that processed meats were intended to be prohibited unless requested by a patient. He says the bill is only designed to preserve healthy, ethical choice for people in residential care and hospitals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2015, the World Health Organization<\/span><\/a> labeled processed and red meats as a type 1 carcinogen. The WHO said that there is convincing evidence that it causes cancer based on epidemiological studies.<\/span><\/p>\n

As it reads now, the HB 2348 says a hospital or long-term care facility shall make 100 percent plant-based meals and beverages that are low in fat, sodium and added sugars available for everyone. The meals must be marked as plant-based and offered at no additional cost beyond a comparable meal that isn\u2019t plant-based. The bill does not affect meat that isn\u2019t processed meat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wilde says the bill is about protecting a patient\u2019s choice to eat a diet free of animal products for reasons of religion, ethics or health when ill or incarcerated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, Wilde sponsored a similar bill, HB 3342. It passed with bipartisan support but died in the Senate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In testimony for that bill, Michael F. Gower, assistant director of operations for Oregon\u2019s Department of Corrections, listed available meat alternative menu items. He said adults in custody can receive an 8 oz. bowl of beans for an entr\u00e9e, but the meal includes animal byproducts such as eggs and dairy. The breakfast protein replacement is four tablespoons of peanut butter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There was support for the bill from individuals and organizations. The Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of Oregon testified in favor, saying that for every 10 grams of fiber (only found in plant foods) added to one\u2019s diet, the risk of heart disease and colon cancer is reduced by 10 percent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to Catalyst<\/em>, there were others not happy about the 2019 bill. Among the critics were the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, which said it was concerned about the state not recognizing dairy foods as nutritious. The Oregon Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics called the bill too bureaucratic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But Wilde assures he\u2019s not trying to steal the bacon. \u201cThis is to keep the substitution of cheap processed meats for healthier options,\u201d he says. \u201cPut another way, it\u2019s not about good bacon, it\u2019s about cheap bologna.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No, state Rep. Marty Wilde doesn\u2019t want to take your bacon away.\u00a0 With the 2021 legislative session in full (remote) work swing, Wilde Introduced House \u2026 Continue reading\u00a0\u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,101,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-ew-extra","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}