Jan. 21, 2010 Court Decision in Favour of Michael Schmidt and Cowshares

Ready for some heavy-duty legal reading? Download a pdf file of the 41 page judgement (28.4 Mb)

Pictures from the Queen's Park Press Conference November 21, 2007:

One Year Later:
Michael Schmidt and his cow share owners,
present a proposal to regulate underground raw milk trade
Wednesday Nov 21st, 10:30 am
Queens Park Press room

This coming Wednesday, Michael Schmidt along with his cow share owners are presenting a proposal to regulate the underground raw milk trade at Queens Park in the Press room Wednesday Nov 21st at 10:30 am. Raw milk supporters will deliver this proposal to every MPP in Ontario throughout the day.

Also at the press conference, Schmidt will announce the very first International Raw Milk Symposium "the Raw Facts about Milk" which will take place in Toronto May 31st 2008. International experts from around the globe will be part of this Symposium which will all coincide during Schmidt`s trial set for May 23. You can log on here for more details: www.glencoltonfarms.ca.

Confirmed to attend this conference on Wednesday are:
MPP Bill Murdock
MPP Randy Hillier
Judith McGill, Consumer
James McLaren, for the Natural Milk Organization
Jamie Kennedy, on behalf of Slow Food
Pam Killeen, member - Weston A. Price Foundation.
 
November 21st marks the first anniversary of the raid on Michael Schmidt's dairy farm. Over 20 armed officers of the Ministry of Natural Resources , Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, and local Health Unit searched the farm for over seven hours to obtain evidence and proof that Schmidt in fact distributes raw milk to consumers via a cow share owner program. Subsequently, Schmidt went on a 30 day hunger strike, in order to force the return of all his equipment, documents and to ensure that there would be no further harassment until the matter has been dealt with in court.

Shortly after the raid, Greg Sorbara the former Finance Minister came out to say that he was a cow share owner in Schmidt's operation. Within three weeks, MPP Bill Murdock put a motion forward in Parliament to study the issue of raw milk regulation in Ontario, considering that there is a growing consumer demand and black market throughout Ontario which is not regulated. The bill was defeated.

Clayton Ruby was retained by Schmidt and the trial has been set for May 23, 2008 in Newmarket. Since last year’s raid, Schmidt has continued to provide raw milk to his cow-share members. The York Regional Health Unit has forced the issue further by a superior court order to stop Schmidt from entering York Region to deliver raw milk to his cow-share owners. Despite the court order, Schmidt continues to make his weekly trip to Richmond Hill to provide raw milk to his cow-share owners.

For Media Info, Set Up An Interview, you can reach any of the following:
Michael Schmidt 519 369 8137 glencolton@bmts.com www.glencoltonfarms.ca
Judith McGill 416 997-3311
James McLaren 613 889 1990 www.naturalmilk.org

MPP’s BRIEFING SUMMARY: PROPOSAL TO LEGALIZE THE SALE OF RAW MILK, November 21, 2007

Raw milk is a health hazard because of government policy. In Ontario, there are no regulations in place to govern raw milk production. However, there are such systems, as in England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and California, and in these jurisdictions consuming raw milk is rendered safe. (See the Reference section for their raw milk regulations).

This package is being presented to all Ontario MPP’s in order to offer concrete facts as well as to call for reform of the regulatory system that currently prohibits the production and sale of raw milk. It is possible for Ontario to follow other jurisdictions and to reform the system in such a way as to provide for the safe human consumption of raw milk. The government of Ontario must consider its responsibility in regulating raw milk especially in view of its knowledge of the extent of the burgeoning “black market” for raw milk in Ontario.

Michael Schmidt’s trial date is set to begin May 23, 2008. It is a true David and Goliath story and has generated intense consumer interest and in-depth media coverage and commentary on all aspects of the raw milk debate. Health conscious consumers rights organizations and all raw milk advocates feel strongly that raw milk has been made unsafe in Ontario because of government policy. If a monitoring system were to be put in place, then raw milk becomes safe. All you have to do is look at examples from other jurisdictions that have done so.

Ontario introduced its mandatory pasteurization legislation in 1938 in response to problems caused by milk-borne pathogens. Pasteurization was chosen because it was economical, easy to implement and suited the large-scale mass distribution of milk into cities. There was, however, a known alternative to pasteurization, but it required the use of common sense hygienic production practices, which was more costly and did not lend itself as easily to mass distribution. The American Association of Medical Milk Commissions and its predecessors have been publishing methods for safe Certified Raw Milk since the 1893.

Even after the 1938 legislation, consumption of raw milk in Ontario continued. Dairy farmers were permitted under the law to consume their own raw milk and most do so to this day. In 1996, Dr. Joost Harwig, Director, Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, presented Senate Committee evidence that raw milk consumption in Canada is about 1% of all fluid milk consumed. In the USA, in 1998, the CDC posted a survey of 7,493 adults that showed 1.5% consumed raw milk. In England, where raw milk is legally distributed, about 0.01% is consumed raw.

From time to time, individuals and/or groups have made attempts to change the 1938 law. Their efforts have gone by largely unnoticed. Very little, if any, media attention has been drawn to their efforts and the little that was generated typically denounced raw dairy consumption and supported the pasteurization laws. On November 21, 2006, this all changed with the raid on Michael Schmidt’s farm, with front page headlines and in-depth coverage of all aspects of raw milk consumption by all the major media nationally and abroad.

In recent years there has been more and more media focus on health and diet with open and balanced discussions on many topics including vegetarianism and raw food diets. This reflects the public’s rising consciousness about food and health and the link between the two. Raw milk fits squarely in the middle of this discussion having many clear long-term health advantages over pasteurized milk, which are all largely ignored or denied by the pasteurization advocates, who focus primarily on the short-term health risks. These short-term health risks are all a matter of government policy and can be effectively eliminated with a suitable regulatory regime.

Pasteurization however accommodates modern corporate and large-scale economic production. It supports and fosters large-scale concentration of farming, trucking, processing and distribution systems. Raw milk production does not. Rather, it supports small-scale production and direct interaction between producer and consumer. This situation pits an ever-growing segment of savvy consumers against interests vested in pasteurization. The issue and the struggle will therefore not go away, particularly with recent media attention. As more and more consumers become educated, there will only be more demand for change. Local food systems are now proposed and even promoted by the provincial and federal government.

England has always permitted the sale of raw milk. Since 1984, their government has tried to eliminate the sale of raw milk three times. But each time, it backed down in the face of sharp consumer and producer resistance, even though the consumers in opposition were quite small in number. In Ontario, health conscious consumers and raw milk advocates are now organizing and mobilizing to bring about the necessary changes. MPP’s are therefore being asked to recognize this movement and institute raw milk regulation here in Ontario. Otherwise they will face an ever growing resistance by consumers that will only gain momentum and members until it eventually succeeds.

We have included in the Reference section the raw milk regulations from England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and California. These raw milk jurisdictions have a combined population of 258 million. Surely this is a large enough test bed for the safety of raw milk under a proper regulatory system. We recommend the adoption of the regulations from England for use in Ontario. This will put to an end, the hardships endured by Michael Schmidt and others, who only want to bring to consumers, the benefits of nature’s most perfect food in its most natural form. It will also support the right of informed consumers to choose what to consume to promote their own health.

How do they regulate raw milk safety in other jurisdictions?

England | Switzerland | France | Germany | Austria

Photo: Michael Schmidt at the Big Big Benefit Concert in February 2007

See more photos from this event

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