Farmers (and Consumers) Denied the Right to Consume Milk from Their Own Cows
Wisconsin judge goes further and rules that none of us—farmers or consumers—have the right to decide what we have for our own dinner. A state Action Alert!
Last week, Wisconsin judge Patrick J. Fiedler ruled against the property rights of cow owners and their right to consume raw milk from their own cows. Plaintiffs included Galyle Loiselle and Robert Karp, who boarded their cows at Mark and Petra Zinniker’s farm so that they could consume raw milk from them, and the Zinnikers. Here is what the judge said in his own words:
Plaintiffs [Loiselle, Karp, and the Zinnikers] do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;
Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;
Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farmer; [and]
Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice.
It would certainly seem that the judge’s ruling violates constitutional rights to property, private contract, and bodily autonomy. After all, is there a more fundamental right than deciding what to eat?
(Before this, I thought the FDA’s contempt for freedom of food choice was bad enough!)
Why is there so much government involvement going on with the milk?
Wisconsin judge goes further and rules that none of us—farmers or consumers—have the right to decide what we have for our own dinner. A state Action Alert!
Last week, Wisconsin judge Patrick J. Fiedler ruled against the property rights of cow owners and their right to consume raw milk from their own cows. Plaintiffs included Galyle Loiselle and Robert Karp, who boarded their cows at Mark and Petra Zinniker’s farm so that they could consume raw milk from them, and the Zinnikers. Here is what the judge said in his own words:
Plaintiffs [Loiselle, Karp, and the Zinnikers] do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;
Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;
Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farmer; [and]
Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice.
It would certainly seem that the judge’s ruling violates constitutional rights to property, private contract, and bodily autonomy. After all, is there a more fundamental right than deciding what to eat?
(Before this, I thought the FDA’s contempt for freedom of food choice was bad enough!)
Why is there so much government involvement going on with the milk?
