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Wisconsin Lawmakers Seek to Overturn State's Margarine Ban

A dozen Wisconsin legislators think the "dairy state" may be taking things too far when it comes to protecting dairy from competing products. Or at the very least it's time to update legislation with roots in the 1800s that restricted and regulated margarine sales in favor of butter.

According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel the lawmakers are co-sponsoring a bill to repeal the law that makes it a crime for restaurants, prisons and schools to substitute margarine for butter unless a customer requests it.

Rep. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) calls the bill prohibiting margarine substitution for butter "silly, antiquated and anti-free market." (See the bill.)

At issue is the notion that the state can save taxpayer dollars by substituting less expensive margarine for butter in meals served by state-run institutions like prisons.

The butter battle has a long and colorful history. And it seems as though it's time for another chapter to be written.