The Wisconsin War on Butter

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In 1970, a law was passed which required that all butter intended for commercial purposes within Wisconsin first be put before a panel of "experts" responsible for grading the product based on a set of state standards. This law, which had largely been forgotten or at least ignored for decades, has now become an issue once again thanks to the rise of high fat diets.

For those who subscribe to high fat lifestyles such as the Paleo, Primal Blueprint, or Ketogenic diets, butter usage is strongly encouraged, so long as that butter is grass-fed. This has caused market demand for grass-fed butter to skyrocket over the last several years, alarming Wisconsin food bureaucrats who cannot stand to see a rule being broken, no matter how arbitrary it may be.

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Wisconsin apparently takes its role as the “butter police” very seriously. The regulatory process that explains how butter is to be inspected and assessed before making it onto store shelves is several pages long and includes 32 “quality points” that each butter specimen must meet before gaining state approval.

Anyone caught bypassing this process is subject to a $1,000 fine and up to six months of jail time.

Some Wisconsin residents, Jean Smith included, worry that this butter statute has more to do with protecting the American dairy industry and less to do with protecting consumers.

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In Wisconsin, a state known for dairy products and especially cheeses, the dairy industry has a great deal of pull with local legislators. This pushback against foreign butter is just another example of state and private entities coming together to form a more cronyist union. Rather than allowing free and open market competition, the government is protecting an American industry from having to innovate and compete with foreign markets.

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