In Wisconsin, you can go to jail for selling homemade muffin

By M.D. Kittle 
As preposterous as it may sound, in Wisconsin you can go to jail and face hefty fines for selling homemade baked goods.  Wisconsin is one of only two states to ban entrepreneurs from selling cookies, muffins and breads simply because they are made in a home kitchen.  “That means that even if you sell one cookie at a farmers market, to your neighbor, somewhere in your community, you can go to jail for up to six months or even be fined up to $1,000. That’s not only unfair, it’s unconstitutional,” attorney Erica Smith told Wisconsin Watchdog Wednesday on the Vicki McKenna Show, on NewsTalk 1310 WIBA......The commercial food industry in Wisconsin asserts lifting the ban could hurt small, licensed businesses, giving home-based entrepreneurs an unfair advantage.....

To Read More - I'm sorry, but is this really an issue of fairness, or unfairness to larger businesses? It's about preventing competition, and besides,  who exactly wrote the Book of Fair?  Fair, more often than not is, a matter of whose ox is being gored.  Let's start where we should start - the beginning.

Who originally wrote this law and why? Was it created to  promote licensed businesses at the cost of the small producers? If so - and I have no doubt that's exactly what it was - is it fair to put these small producers out of business in favor of larger licensed operations?
And why did they have to have a license? To operate a business strictly as a business. Is that really fair? Or is it a revenue enhancement scam by government?  Now, if concerns about sanitation were the issue then merely inspecting the operation and charging a small fee would be sufficient, but no matter what other reason's are claimed – and some of them legitimate such as sanitation or fire safety issues - that's never been the real reason.

This is no more legitimate than was the Whiskey of 1791 when the Federal government attempted to stop farmers from making moonshine and selling it cheaper than the distillers in the metropolitan areas. All promoted and supported by the distillers for their financial gain at the loss of the farmers legitimate financial interests. It might also be noted the Whiskey Act was clearly an unconstitutional action by the federal government because it had nothing to do with interstate traffic or defense - the only two legitimate Constitutional responsibilities of the Congress, the President and the federal government.