A Wisconsin judge has decided – in a fight over families’ access to milk from cows they own – that Americans “do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow.”
The ruling comes from Circuit Court Judge Patrick J. Fiedler in a court battle involving a number of families who owned their own cows, but boarded them on a single farm.
The judge said the arrangement is a “dairyfarm” and, therefore, is subject to the rules and regulations of the state of Wisconsin.
“It’s always a surprise when a judge says you don’t have the fundamental right to consume the foods of your choice,” said Pete Kennedy, president of theFarm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund,which worked on the case on behalf of the farmers and the owners of the milk-producing cows.
The judge’s original ruling came in a consolidation of two cases that presented similar situations: Cows being maintained and milked on farms for the benefit of non-resident owners. He refused to grant a summary judgment declaring such arrangements legitimate, deciding instead to favor the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture,Trade and Consumer Protection, which opposed them. Read more:
