Farmers denied the right to consume milk from their own cow

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? less

(I'm not a lawyer nor do I play one on tv, so take my post with a grain of salt.)

What your summary fails to make clear is that the decisions are based on the plaintiffs failure to provide evidence that they have a "fundamental right" to the items listed. The judge is not saying that they don't, but without appropriate evidence provided to the court, the court can not provide judgement. Their argument was basically grounded on citing various laws (Roe v. Wade for example) and saying "this proves we have a fundamental right to grow and consume the food of our choice," without connecting the dots. How does a woman's right to have an abortion equate to our right to consume any food we choose?

Additionally, the case involves cows being boarded at a dairy farm that produces milk for consumption. As such, the farm falls under the laws that govern a dairy farm. Any milk produced at the farm is also subject to the same laws. Even if the cows belonged to someone else and the milk was for their personal consumption, the farm is distributing the milk and it is illegal to do so raw. less

That's not what I said, nor is that the intent of the decision. The plaintiffs claim that we have a "fundamental right to grow and consume our own food" but did not argue that point successfully in court. There is currently no law or prior judgement that has said we do have this "fundamental right," that's why the judgement reads "The plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to..." Read the court summary rather than another person's biased interpretation of the situation. link

It would be the equivalent of my claiming that I have the fundamental right to pee in my pants by citing that women have the right to an abortion. While I may have that right, citing Roe v Wade does not support that argument. It does not mean I can not pee in my pants, but that it is not a fundamental right and I ave failed to demonstrate that it is a fundamental right. less

I know that's not what you said. It's what I said. You are going for the legal aspect and I am for the human aspect. In the human aspect, with the number of people starving and on food stamps here in America, government should be glad people are trying to raise and grow their own food. Instead they are arresting them! Does it make sense?

I have read said document and have not changed my mind, except for 1 thing; they should have gotten a better lawyer. Of course, they probably couldn't afford someone who could take on such a mass of writhing snakes. It's madness! I'm almost positive you know all of this.?

By the way, you never actually came directly out and said...do you agree with the legal or human aspect of the story? less

I so wish raw milk was legal! Yes, there are bacterial concerns... but I'm not a baby and I'm not elderly, so I would likely recover from campylobacter or other problems.

And it would the taste would be so greatly improved. I keep a few mesophilic cultures in my freezer to add to milks and cheeses for better flavor (and if I wasn't so lazy, I'd do butter too) and they taste so much better! Old milk becomes buttermilk instead of spoiling. It's legal in France.

I think that the government should have no say in whether or not I am allowed to drink raw milk. I could see mandated "THIS HAS NOT BEEN PASTEURIZED" labeling. I could see assisted-living homes or nursing homes not allowing raw milk. But I am a sane consenting adult and I want my bacteria back! less

The article you reference is misleading. I was simply trying to provide the facts of the case. This has nothing to do with whether or not people have this fundamental right. The law currently does not recognize this as a fundamental right. The court would if they properly argued the case. Do I believe that people have the inherent right to grow/raise and consume their own food? Yes I do, but that is not what the legal case is about. The legal case is simple:

1. There is no law that currently states we have a fundamental right to grow/consume whatever food we choose. (This does not mean we don't have that right)
2. You can not simply claim in a court of law that we have this fundamental right without supporting said argument.
3. The plaintiffs failed to support the argument, therefore the court ruled that based on their flawed argument, we do not have the fundamental right.

Additionally, as I said before, these people are keeping their cows on a commercial dairy farm, so yes I think they should abide by the laws that apply to the farm. It would not be an issue if they raised the cows on their own property for their own use which is what the title of the article is trying to claim. A more accurate title would be "Farmers (and consumers) Denied the Right to Consume Milk from Their Own Cows When Raised on a Commercial Dairy Farm Because They Failed to Demonstrate in a Court of Law That They Have a Fundamental Right to Consume Milk From Their Own Cows, Therefore the Laws That Currently Apply to the Commercial Dairy Farm Apply to the Milk Produced From Their Cows."

And claiming that they could not afford good representation is a poor excuse. I also doubt they could not afford good counsel since the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund (link) was also a plaintiff. I'm no lawyer and I can tell that citing Roe v Wade is a flawed argument.

I think we simply have to agree to disagree on this issue. less

I so wish raw milk was legal! Yes, there are bacterial concerns... but I'm not a baby and I'm not elderly, so I would likely recover from campylobacter or other problems.

And it would the taste would be so greatly improved. I keep a few mesophilic cultures in my freezer to add to milks and cheeses for better flavor (and if I wasn't so lazy, I'd do butter too) and they taste so much better! Old milk becomes buttermilk instead of spoiling. It's legal in France.

I think that the government should have no say in whether or not I am allowed to drink raw milk. I could see mandated "THIS HAS NOT BEEN PASTEURIZED" labeling. I could see assisted-living homes or nursing homes not allowing raw milk. But I am a sane consenting adult and I want my bacteria back! less

I so wish raw milk was legal! Yes, there are bacterial concerns... but I'm not a baby and I'm not elderly, so I would likely recover from campylobacter or other problems.

And it would the taste would be so greatly improved. I keep a few mesophilic cultures in my freezer to add to milks and cheeses for better flavor (and if I wasn't so lazy, I'd do butter too) and they taste so much better! Old milk becomes buttermilk instead of spoiling. It's legal in France.

I think that the government should have no say in whether or not I am allowed to drink raw milk. I could see mandated "THIS HAS NOT BEEN PASTEURIZED" labeling. I could see assisted-living homes or nursing homes not allowing raw milk. But I am a sane consenting adult and I want my bacteria back! less