From Kevin Brooker, in the Calgary Herald:

Ontario raw milk advocate Michael Schmidt at last week’s “Milk and Cookies” protest at FDA headquarters in Maryland. Photo courtesy of Kimberly Hartke.
“I don’t know about you, but lately, I’ve been getting a powerful thirst for a nice, cold glass of farm-fresh milk.

You’re a news reader, though, so you might only know that product by what amounts to a dirty word on the lips of a large class of bureaucrats in Canada and the U.S.: raw milk.

As a city mouse, I’ve never had the pleasure that farm folk have been praising for centuries – moo juice straight from the cow, albeit cooled and filtered. They speak rapturously about its flavour and texture, and their sense that it forms a clearly beneficial foundation to their nutritional life.

Heck, yeah, I want some of that.

Alas, since only 1991, the government of Canada says I may not purchase such a product. In their vast scientific wisdom, they decided that a practice as old as history has no place in the bright tomorrow of irradiated foods and patentable, genetically modified plants and animals.

Like most urbanites who will never touch a cow’s teat, I failed to notice the initial banning. It’s only been over the past few years that I’ve come to understand the well-intentioned folly that it has become, thanks to people like Michael Schmidt, the Newmarket, Ont., farmer who is bravely fighting to restore sanity in the dairy chain.

Schmidt, sometimes called the Milk Warrior, used to sell the good stuff from his heritage farm, and persisted in doing so in defiance of the raw milk ban. In 2006, 20 police officers raided the farm and slapped him with an equal number of charges.

Though eventually acquitted, the Ontario government appealed and, in September, the acquittals were overturned. On Sept. 29, Schmidt began a hunger strike, vowing to stay on it until he could have a faceto-face meeting with Premier Dalton McGuinty.

This is dramatic, to say the least, and surely a measure of his conviction. But he’s not alone out there in the realm of civil disobedience. Perhaps you read last week of the self-described “caravan of criminal mothers” who transported fresh milk across state lines and drank it defiantly in front of the Food and Drug Administration headquarters in Maryland. Though there were no arrests, it did bring attention to the impetus for their protest: the predawn raid on the tiny dairy farm of an Amish man in Pennsylvania, where they had previously bought their milk.

It is vital to note that neither that product, nor Schmidt’s, has ever been found contaminated. That is the principal reason, of course, why the Canadian government decreed that the high-heat process of pasteurization is a requisite to milk consumption. But these farmers insist, and it seems sensible, that on their small-scale operations, they practise a form of grass-fed, drug-free husbandry which, combined with obsessive cleanliness, renders contamination highly unlikely.

In short, they claim that the matter could be dealt with not with a ban, but with a sticker reminding consumers of potential risks, and letting them decide for themselves what they will ingest. This is exactly how it’s done across Europe and in some states, where it is correctly understood that routine food safety measures will continue, and that there is a powerful commercial disincentive to poisoning consumers.

Meanwhile, there is a supreme irony in that it is not illegal to drink raw milk in Canada, only to sell it….”

Michael Schmidt’s 37 Days Of A Hunger Strike Came To An End Today

Following A Meeting With Premiere McGuinty In His Queen’s Park Office

“This hunger strike was about starting a dialogue with the leader of this province,” states Farmer and Raw Milk Advocate Michael Schmidt. “I have been on this human journey for 17 years looking for constructive dialogue, and I have been dragged through the courts for a crime that has no victims.

My aim was simple: to take this to the top and to begin a conversation with our leader, one-on-one. To meet, as equal human beings, not as Premiere and Farmer. It was because of this that I undertook my hunger strike. And this morning, I met with Premiere McGuinty, in his office, and we have begun our dialogue, and because of this, I am ending my hunger strike today.

I have always had my hand outstretched in an offer for dialogue and feel that today, for the first time in 17 years, this hand has been taken and dialogue at the highest level has finally begun. I truly hope that the government will refrain from any further attacks on farmers until this dialogue has had a chance to take its proper course. We will be working closely with MPPs over the coming weeks to table a private
member’s bill.”

Premiere McGuinty thanked Michael for his grace and for the way he conducted himself through this hunger strike.

The Canadian Press

Date: Friday Nov. 4, 2011 12:14 PM ET

Andy+Oudman+Pam+Killeen+Raw+Milk%2C+Depression.mp3

As he enters the fourth week of a hunger strike, Michael Schmidt’s life still hangs in the balance. This from Jon Duschinsky, a Canadian organizer:

Michael Schmidt”Spent an awe-inspiring afternoon with Michael & Elisa and other campaigners today. He’s doing well. Tired, but well. We taped a little videomessage for all his supporters which should be online tomorrow and there are a LOAD of things in the pipeline for this week. Watch this space - we’re hard at work and will have more to share later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks all and keep up the fight!”

No matter how the Michael Schmidt affair ends, it will no doubt mark an important turning point in the food rights movement. And that is exactly as Schmidt would want it.

Here are five of its accomplishments thus far:

1. It has educated thousands of people about the realities of food rights-that we aren’t necessarily the final arbiters of what goes into our bodies, and that public health and elected authorities aren’t interested in correcting the situation. If a dairy farmer with hundreds of eager consumer share owners can’t get a single individual in a position of authority to engage him on safety issues in 17 years of trying, you know something is wrong. And if, after starving himself, those same individuals are still unwilling to talk, well, you begin to realize how high they see the stakes. You understand that Schmidt could have spent several lifetimes just hanging around being polite seeking out someone to speak with him.

2. It has radicalized thousands. Once you realize the authorities are willing to let people die to maintain the existing system, your perspective changes. You don’t have to look very far to see how upset people have become about the Michael Schmidt sacrifice. Mark McAfee pointed out in a comment on this blog how he had lost his appetite. I had a similar reaction. One woman on the “Support Michael Schmidt” Facebook page stated: “All of this is making me so emotionally exhausted! But, I am NOT complaining, what Michael and his family are going through must be unimaginable!”

3. It has elevated the issue of food rights to a new level. No longer will food rights simply be about accessing raw milk. Increasingly, it will be seen for what it is-the right of each individual to decide what foods should go into their bodies…and which should not. For a long time, I felt as if I was the only one writing regularly about this issue. It’s gratifying to see a variety of bloggers, and even establishment media, taking note.

4. It has forced the beginning of important organizational work. No movement can go very far without serious organization. Sure, the efforts of the last couple weeks sometimes appear more like uncontrolled chaos. Some people pleading for a concerted media campaign. Others pleading for donations for Schmidt’s legal campaign. Still others trying to organize a day of fasting. But any number of people have gotten their feet wet on political organizing, and made contacts with individuals similarly inclined. The effective use of social media has been important. More significant, a cadre of leaders is emerging in both Canada and the U.S., which will hopefully prove important in promoting new efforts beyond Michael Schmidt’s hunger strike.

5. We see how far we have to go. It’s sobering, but important, to appreciate that this fight won’t be won because a few public officials or judges will suddenly become sympathetic with Michael Schmidt’s plight. They will do what their financial sponsors tell them to do…until they see their actual power being threatened because they are losing votes, or sponsor financing.

For those wondering how they might join in the efforts, Ann Marie Michaels at Cheeseslave has some excellent advice. We don’t know yet the outcome of this high-stakes drama. But Michael Schmidt has already performed a huge service to many thousands, and eventually millions, of people.

***

Here’s one person’s take on the sometimes acrimonious debate about the Raw Milk Institute (RAWMI). I sense a number of small-dairy owners are scared to death about the prospect of yet another national institutional force in their lives. They have learned well to distrust the many forces arrayed around them, at least some of which are openly hostile. They fear that one of their own could easily evolve into yet another enemy.

I sense as well a desire to keep as much of their lives on a highly local, community basis. Some kind of standards-based association entirely local and community-based-might this be more desirable?

***

I hope Mary Martin gains satisfaction from the Weston A. Price Foundation. Its perceived lack of sensitivity seems to have been the source of much of her anguish.

Update on Monday, October 24, 2011 at 10:45PM by The Complete Patient

Here’s a brief message from Michael Schmidt that went up on Youtube Monday evening.

What a wonderful world we live in! - as a war time kid in the UK and now 73 I still boast a full head of teeth. My first filling was in the RAF at age nineteen. Also I remember up to 3 inches of cream showing in a bottle of Express Jersey milk. True we had few sweeties and no fruit juice or Coca cola - however I believe our parents had the option to buy raw milk or pasteurised, silver top or gold - but I suspect that was before massive milk companies controlled milk processing and sales, and if I remember correctly dairy farmers often pasteurised their own daily take.
Reading the headline last night I was tempted to search Google and discovered this 1938 article written a year after my birth makes an interesting argument against the present millions of gallons of rich creamy milk being dumped as useless - a hazard even. The apology “watery whitewash” I had for breakfast at high cost appears to be a poor and weakly improvement in our 16,000 years of food development as human beings. But to the point - when a population is often denied food because of cost, can we really believe its better and cheaper to dump milk, frozen lambs and what
else, rather than feed our own in this nation of obvious plenty? What do you think?
Douglas Chowns

Whangarei
Raw Milk Vs. Pasteurized Milk

From Armchair Science, London

April 1938

There is no substitute for clean, raw milk as a food, so far as children are concerned. Science has not yet succeeded in providing, in the pasteurized variety, those essential qualities that are the only real foundation for a healthy child.

Unfortunately, many grossly distorted statements are current regarding our milk supply. If we are to believe the protagonists of the Pasteurization-of-all-milk-at-all costs Party, raw milk is as good, or rather as bad, as rat poison-although as the Minister of Agriculture recently stated, “the human race existed long before Pasteur was heard of.”

The process of pasteurization was debated in the House of Commons and the suggestion made that no raw milk should be sold for human consumption. This would mean installation of expensive machinery by every supplier, and if it should become compulsory there is little doubt that many small firms would shut down and the business pass in the hands of a few big dealers.

If we are to be compelled to drink pasteurized milk, we should at least understand what pasteurization means. It set out to accomplish two things: Destruction of certain disease-carrying germs and the prevention of souring milk. These results are obtained by keeping the milk at a temperature of 145 degrees to 150 degrees F. for half an hour, at least, and then reducing the temperature to not more than 55 degrees F.

It is undoubtedly beneficial to destroy dangerous germs, but pasteurization does more than this - it kills off harmless and useful germs alike, and by subjecting the milk to high temperatures, destroys some nutritious constituents.

With regards to the prevention of souring; sour raw milk is very widely used. It is given to invalids, being easily digested, laxative in its properties, and not unpleasant to take. But, after pasteurization, the lactic acid bacilli are killed. The milk, in consequence, cannot become sour and quickly decomposes, while undesirable germs multiply very quickly.

Pasteurization’s great claim to popularity is the widespread belief, fostered by its supporters, that tuberculosis in children is caused by the harmful germs found in raw milk. Scientists have examined and tested thousands of milk samples, and experiments have been carried out on hundreds of animals in regard to this problem of disease-carrying by milk. But the one vital fact that seems to have been completely missed is that it is CLEAN, raw milk that is wanted. If this can be guaranteed, no other form of food for children can, or should, be allowed to take its place.

Dirty milk, of course, is like any other form of impure food _ a definite menace. But Certified Grade A Milk, produced under Government supervision and guaranteed absolutely clean, is available practically all over the country and is the dairy-farmer’s answer to the pasteurization zealots.

Recent figures published regarding the spread of tuberculosis by milk show, among other facts, that over a period of five years, during which time 70 children belonging to a special organization received a pint of raw milk daily. One case only of the disease occurred. During a similar period when pasteurized milk had been given, 14 cases were reported.

Besides destroying part of the vitamin C contained in raw milk and encouraging growth of harmful bacteria, pasteurization turns the sugar of milk, known as lactose, into beta-lactose _ which is far more soluble and therefore more rapidly absorbed in the system, with the result that the child soon becomes hungry again.

Probably pasteurization’s worst offence is that it makes insoluable the major part of the calcium contained in raw milk. This frequently leads to rickets, bad teeth, and nervous troubles, for sufficient calcium content is vital to children; and with the loss of phosphorus also associated with calcium, bone and breain formation suffer serious setbacks.

Pasteurization also destroys 20 percent of the iodine present in raw milk, causes constipation and generally takes from the milk its most vital qualities.

In face of these facts-which are undeniable-what has the Pasteurization Party to say? Instead of compelling dealers to set up expensive machinery for turning raw milk into something that is definitely not what it sets out to be _ a nutritious, health giving food _ let them pass legislation making the dairy-farmers produce clean, raw milk _ that is milk pure to drink with all its constituents unaltered.

The above was published in Magazine Digest - June 1938

Armchair Science is a British Medical Journal

http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/news/argument-raw-milk/1153807/

Ontario dairy farmer, Michael Schmidt, has been fighting for the rights of Canadians to drink raw milk since the early 1990’s. And during that time, his farm has been raided by health authorities along with RCMP officers on two separate occasions (in 1994 and again in 2006 where 25 armed officers stormed his farm).

In January 2010, after many years of legal wrangling, Michael Schmidt finally got his day in court where he represented himself (having lost the ability to pay the mounting legal fees over the years). After a dramatic proceeding, he was acquitted on all charges by Justice Kowarsky. The Province of Ontario subsequently decided to appeal the acquittal on the grounds that Justice Kowarsky committed procedure errors and showed bias with the evidence and on September 28, 2011 Justice Tetley reversed the decision and found Michael Schmidt guilty on 15 of the 19 charges.

In addition, Fraser Health in British Columbia decided to pile on with more legal assault by filing to find Michael Schmidt along with Gordon Watson in contempt of court and impose a $55,000 fine for their role in helping Our Cows (formerly Home on the Range) in Chilliwack to continue with its cow share program, even afterpublic statements saying they wouldn’t take any action against the farm while a constitutional challenge was being pursued by the owner, Alice Jongerden. The contempt of court case is to be heard November 2nd, 2011.

On September 29, in the face of continued persecution by the Provincial governments for his “crime” of believing that informed consumers should be able to choose what they eat and drink, Michael Schmidt started the Hunger Strike for Responsible Food Freedom.

Michael Schmidt has stopped consuming any food and now only drinks water. Currently eight other people have joined Michael on his hunger strike. In his own words:

“I respectfully ask that the Ontario and BC governments agree to a constructive dialogue on how we can provide a framework to enable people to make real choices about their food and what they eat, beginning with raw milk and the implementation of a framework that grants legal standing for cow share operations in Ontario and BC. This objective also includes the end of the current prosecutions of cow shares which meet proper production standards.”

If Alice Jongerden finally gets the raw milk issue to the Supreme Court of Canada as a constitutional challenge, milk may finally get its due, a proper hearing where all the information can finally be presented, but until then, the battle over food rights continues.

http://urbandiner.ca/2011/10/12/dairy-farmer-michael-schmidt-on-hunger-strike-for-responsible-food-freedom/

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