The State of Cascadia has a mandatory organization for butchers working in the state: the State Sausage Symposium. The CSSS takes care of many administrative functions, oversees meat-products safety efforts, and operates various public-interest programs to improve the quality of salami and to make excellent bacon available to all Cascadians.
Cascadia law governing meat processing is very complex and ever-changing: a butcher who has to work with a new type of carcass could easily spend a couple of hours figuring out what he’s allowed to do, what precautions must be taken, and how to package and label the meat. Fortunately, the CSSS offers a book — updated annually — that sorts out the statutes and presents the information in a well-indexed form. Even better, the CSSS has a website where one can “slice & dice” by selecting an animal and a desired product, and learn what knives are authorized for use, any special processing steps, and so on. (Naturally, a careful butcher will double-check the website’s information, but it’s usually very accurate, and always gives good pointers to the most relevant portions of the state laws.)
The CSSS offers the print version of its book, the “Meat Manual,” for $100; and access to the website for $500 per butcher per year. Family farms and feedlots are offered a discount on bulk purchases of website access licenses; the per-butcher cost at a large plant can fall as low as $50 per year.
Petra Vegan, a member of the solo-butcher advocacy group PEETA (People Enjoy Eating Tasty Animals), approaches the CSSS to purchase a group license, which she plans to resell to other independent butchers. This is permissible under the terms of the group license, as long as all the independent butchers work in the same processing facility. The CSSS refuses to sell to Petra, so she purchases a $500 license, then sues the CSSS for antitrust violations under the Robinson-Patman act, 15 U.S.C. ยง 13(a), and a similar Cascadia statute that explicitly applies to services, rather than just goods.
Discuss Petra’s claims, asserted damages, and defenses that might be raised by the Cascadia State Sausage Symposium.
