Got Shrooms?

• Author: Rimensnyder, Sara
• Position: Brief Article

Lore has it that mushrooms are aphrodisiacs, but lately they've been stirring more spleen than lust. Growers of the tasty fungi have been fighting each other in court over whether the government can force companies to join collective advertising efforts. In late November, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and oral arguments likely will be heard in the spring.

The skirmish began in 1996, when one of the country's largest mushroom producers, United Foods, refused to pay its $8,000 monthly tab from the Department of Agriculture for generic, industry-wide advertisements.

The Justice Department, backed by many mushroom purveyors, took United Foods to court. Although the government won the initial trial, an appeals court judge reversed the decision, agreeing with United Foods that compulsory advertising payments were unconstitutional--at least in agricultural industries that are not heavily regulated, such as mushrooms.

Among other complaints, the company argued that the requirement violated the First Amendment by forcing speech and thwarted its efforts to...