crumbs of reality needed in madison (link)
10.15.09 - the journal times - editorial
whether it's pepper jack, cheddar or gouda, people in wisconsin friggin love their cheese. packers fans wear those silly cheese wedges on their heads at games. their economy's always been largely based on dairy farming & according to the wisconsin milk marketing board, the state produces "over 2.4 billion pounds of cheese each year, over 25 percent of all domestic cheese." thassa lota cheese. that's like 90,000 elephants or 300 million babies or nine million baby elephants worth of cheese. folks basically can't live without the stuff. it coats their pockets & innards.
in fact, some badgers like cheese so much that, as the journal times reports, there's a bill (SB 327) that's been introduced to the wisconsin state legislature that would make cheese the official state snack. by declaring it the state snack, it would mean that by law, the wisconsin blue book would have to mention it alongside the state song, ballad, waltz, dance, beverage, tree, grain, flower, bird, fish, animal, domestic animal, wildlife animal, dog, insect, fossil, mineral, rock, soil, fruit, and tartan. really? they have a state tartan? anyway, the journal times thinks that it's a silly item for legislators to be dealing with, what with the horrible recession & all.
they wonder about what lesson such legislation teaches our kids about adult priorities & then they ramble on about that for a little bit before ending on some comment about "the escapist fantasy available on television every night." um, ok. if anything, wouldn't kids find it kind of cool that there's a state snack? wouldn't it help instill wisconsin pride at a time when the economy sucks bad enough that college graduates are probably better served by leaving the state for greener pastures? wouldn't it give at least a tiny boost to the currently embattled $12 billion dairy industry? wouldn't it just be sweet to get to DECLARE A STATE SNACK? stop being such grinches, journal times. it is the economy, stupid.