Column #85Balloon is attacked by terrified villagers in Gonesse

We live in bizarre times. Even when I limit my discussion to just food and nutrition I can find plenty of “fodder” about misguided beliefs. But maybe that’s normal. Looking back at history, it’s all happened before.

The latest food fight is Wisconsin’s war on foreign butter.  In 1970 Wisconsin’s legislature passed a law requiring all butter sold in the state to pass the scrutiny of a panel of experts. Recently this august panel ruled against Kerrygold because the cattle that produce the milk for Kerrygold’s cheeses and butters are grass fed. Apparently this is against state law. Really?

Of course there is more to the story. Being grass-fed is not the real issue. The law states that only American Grade A milk and milk products can be distributed and sold to the public. Since Kerrygold is made and manufactured in Ireland, it doesn’t receive American grades for its products. So any Wisconsinite or business in Wisconsin that continues to stock and sell Kerrygold products faces a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

Naturally this infuriated the intelligent minority of Wisconsinites who know grass-fed butter is far healthier than regular butter made by Wisconsin’s grain-fed dairies. And anyone with a lick of sense knows regular butter from grain-fed cows is a “million times” healthier than margarine. So wise Wisconsinites now travel across state lines to stock up on Kerrygold butter.

Last month a group of Wisconsinites took to the courts hoping to gain the freedom to buy whatever butter they wanted. The saga will continue for many months if not years unless the legislature steps in and changes the law.

Everyone in a niche business fears issues like this. Slanker Grass-Fed Meat is a niche business within a niche industry which is even worse. It’s really small and different. Since I’m a stickler for nutritional science, using it in marketing puts my business out of step with those who play fast and loose with feel-good rhetoric. For instance, Omega-3 meats are a Slanker exclusive. They can’t be found anywhere else. Everything we say about the nutritional profiles of our meats is seen as a “putdown” on meats sold by everyone else in the nation which includes huge, large, small, and tiny competitors.

There are many examples of mob action driven by insane outrage over change or differences. Some mobs took great pride in burning witches at the stake. Frenchmen destroyed early hot-air balloons because they feared for their lives. Some terrorized folks in the KKK era. Joe McCarthy, a senator from Wisconsin, created “McCarthyism” in 1947. And the sordid list is endless.

People can fall for totally irrational, unscientific beliefs that influence their judgements and, when they are in the majority, allows them to pass laws justifying their beliefs. These actions hinder the free market and curb the freedoms of those outside the mainstream. Everyday I see examples of this involving food, nutrition, health, and disease. Quite often I’m subjected to ridicule or people who refuse to buy our superior meats because our educational material supports validated scientific findings and discredits their mythology.

No wonder minorities fear mob rule.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

3 Lessons Learned from Wisconsin's War on Foreign Butter
A Mises Institute blog by Ryan McMaken

Wisconsin is the Only State to Ban This Butter

Witch Trials in the Early Modern Period from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History of Ballooning from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ku Klux Klan from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

McCarthyism from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph McCarthy from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia