To grow or not to grow

According to Wisconsin Judge Patrick J. Fiedler, you do not have a fundamental right to consume the food you grow or own or raise. The Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund, pioneers in defending food sovereignty and freedom, recently argued before Judge Fiedler that you and I have a constitutional right to consume the foods of our choice. Judge Fiedler saw no merit to the argument and ruled against the FTCLDF. When they asked him to clarify his statement, these were his words:

1) “no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;”
2) “no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;”
3) “no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice…”
4) no, the Plaintiffs, Mark and Petra Zinniker, have a private contract that falls outside the scope of the state’s police power;
5) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume foods of their choice.

People are seeing this as a payoff to large agricultural concerns that are afraid to lose even a tiny part of their market. They see it as a death blow to small farmers, telling them what they must grow and where they can sell what they produce.

Is this a strike against free enterprise and free markets? Will this lead to the closing of the Farmers Markets that some have come to rely on for fresh foods and others also rely on to provide income?

The state has, since back in the 50’s, banned the sale of raw milk because of what they claim are public health concerns. I grew up on a farm and the only time I ever drank what corporations pass as milk was at school, and it sucked. At home the milk was rich and had a layer of cream at the top. We would use the top cream to make butter. Later my parents raised goats and we even made our own cheese.

This ruling would seem to say that people have to buy only products from corporations and that you’re not allowed to consume products you raise or even have a cow or herd of cows. Where will it stop?.... with the state outlawing gardens and the planting of fruit trees? Will there be laws to prevent people from gathering wild fruits, plants and mushrooms?