Smithfield Foods, the nation's largest pork producer and processor, which alongside Tyson Foods, Swift & Co (46% owned by ConAgra), and Hormel Foods controls a whopping 64% of the American pork-packing market, has voluntarily decided to phase out sow crates by 2017. Yes, this applies only to farms they own, not the farms they also buy from (a large percentage), but it's a start. Imagine: 15.6 million hogs a year, AND they're waiting for government approval to acquire the nation's second-bigger producer, Premium Standard Farms. We're a porky, porky people.