Bill ending Wisconsin margarine rules churns debate
MADISON, Wis. -- A legislative effort to repeal Wisconsin's long-established margarine restrictions is rekindling an old debate over government's role in protecting the state's dairy industry.
By law, Wisconsin restaurants can't serve colored margarine tableside unless a customer makes a special request. The state also can't serve it to prison inmates, unless they are vegans or have some health concern that causes them to request it.
"Most people see this as a classic case of big government," said Republican state Rep. Dale Kooyenga, who has introduced a bill repealing these margarine laws. "And creating regulation that doesn't make sense." A version has also been introduced in the state Senate by Republican Van Wanggaard, where it awaits an initial hearing.
Kooyenga's bill, which was introduced in September, has struck a nerve with some people in the Dairy State. "It's a bill that's misguided," said Brad Legreid, executive director of the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association. "It shows a total lack of support for Wisconsin's dairy industry."
Legreid said a measure similar to Kooyenga's surfaced in 1996 but died in the Legislature.
Colored margarine was once banned from grocery shelves across Wisconsin, says David Littig, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The state repealed the ban on margarine retail sales in 1967, but the restrictions targeted by Kooyenga's bill remain.
Brent Howe a farmer from Ontario, Canada, in Madison the week of Oct. 2 for the World Dairy Expo, wasn't surprised to hear of Wisconsin's margarine restrictions. "What's on your license plate, or used to be? America's Dairyland?" he said. "There you go, enough said."
But Paul Seiles, a farmer attending from Virginia, said restaurants should have the choice of what to serve.
"It's in the papers every day how fat our young people are," he said. "I'm a severe diabetic. Everything I buy is low cholesterol, fat free."
Republican state Rep. Lee Nerison, chairman of the Assembly's agriculture committee, said he doesn't see Kooyenga's bill gaining a lot of support, especially from rural legislators. "I think we need to take a real close look at it, see if we really want to open up that can of worms," he said.
Kooyenga is unsure if the bill will get traction but says it's good to discuss the role of government.
"Our laws should mean something," he said. "When you have laws on the books like this that tell everyone that you are a criminal (for serving margarine), it really means that people don't respect our laws anymore."
Jones also reports for The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis.
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