increase font size
Wisconsin's recent ban on Ireland's Kerrygold butter has led to a consumer revolt.
Wisconsin may be America’s ‘dairy state’ but in butter some citizens’ loyalty lies with Kerrygold from Ireland.
A recent ban on this grass-fed butter has led to a consumer revolt – a law suit against the state of Wisconsin seeking to preserve citizens’ freedom to buy and sell whatever type of butter they want.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) says it filed the lawsuit on behalf of four consumers and Slow Pokes Local Foods.
Legislation from the 1950s rules that butter for retail sale in Wisconsin must bear either a state or federal grade mark. This effectively excludes Kerrygold because it is produced, graded and packaged in Ireland.
Ornua (formerly Irish Dairy Board), owner of the Kerrygold brand, is pressing state officials in the hope of keeping the product on sale.
Kerrygold is said to be the top imported butter and the third-ranking overall butter brand in the US, favoured by Americans on low-carb high-fat diets; grass-fed butter is seen as the best form of fat.
Ornua owns the Wisconsin company Thiel Cheese and Ingredients.
Violators of the labelling law risk jail or thousands of dollars in fines. Wisconsin is the only US state with specific and onerous labelling rules that prevent the sale of Kerrygold and other similarly produced butters.
WILL president Rick Esenberg says because the Wisconsin butter law serves no adequate government purpose it violates due process and equal protection guarantees of the Wisconsin constitution.
“The rule that sellers of butter… publicise the government’s opinion of how a butter tastes also violates the guarantee of free speech.
“Wisconsin is known as the ‘dairy state’ so it is ironic that consumers and businesses don’t have a full range of butter options.”
The butter ban is seen as inconsistent with the competitive federalism championed by WILL. It says US courts are said to have long held that a state may not protect favoured interests.
Ngai Tahu's legal action seeking self-determination (rangatiratanga) over fresh water could have huge implications for the future of farming, the viability of farming businesses, and our wider rural communities, says Federated Farmers national vice president Colin Hurst.
OPINION: The end-of-year booze-up at the posh Northern Club in Auckland must have been a beauty, as the legal 'elite' let their hair down and showed us how entitled and political some in the judiciary really are.
The recent period has been dominated by a major health and safety concern – the Covid- 19 pandemic.
There have been some changes to watch in the freshwater policy space.
Both sides claimed a victory of sorts in a recent High Court case that tested the criteria for labelling phosphate rock as reactive phosphate rock (RPR) in the New Zealand market.
Listed rural trader PGG Wrightson chair Garry Moore and his deputy Sarah Brown have been voted out by shareholders.
It was love that first led Leah Prankerd to dairying.
DairyNZ has appointed Dr Jenny Jago to a newly created leadership team role - science partnerships & impact advisor - as part of a strategic refresh of the organisation's science leadership.
OPINION: Public pressure has led to Canterbury Police rightly rolling back its proposed restructure that would have seen several rural police stations closed in favour of centralised hubs.
When I interview Rachel Cox, she is driving - on her way to her next meeting.
With Fonterra's UHT plant at its Edendale site less than a year from completion, demand continues to grow for products the plant will produce, such as Anchor Whipping Cream.
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.
