Page 95 - Spring2009

A Campaign for Real Milk

RAW MILK UPDATES
by Pete Kennedy, Esq.

There’s a lot happening on the raw milk the consumption of raw milk in the province of
front, in the courts, on the federal level, and in Ontario.
various state legislatures. Raw milk has defi- The farmer pointed out that if there is a le-
nitely become a hot topic! gitimate public health concern about providing
raw milk to private individuals, the government’s
ONTARIO CANADA actions have shown no evidence of such concern.
THE MICHAEL SCHMIDT CASE “There have been no public notices to stay away
From January 26-30 and then again on from people who drink it. And, insofar as the
February 4, the trial of dairy farmer Michael Crown deems cow share members to be members
Schmidt was held in the Newmarket, Ontario of the public, no calls have been made to any of
Court of Justice before Justice of the Peace Paul them to warn them of the potential hazard.”
Kowarsky. Charged with twenty violations of Schmidt countered the scientific evidence
the Ontario Health Promotion Protection Act introduced by government witnesses on the A Campaign
and the Ontario Milk Act, Schmidt has received dangers of raw milk by using the testimony of for Real Milk
widespread media coverage—most of it favor- his own expert witnesses, Dr. Ted Beals and is a project of
able. Dr. Ron Hull, to establish the fact that there are the Weston A.
The first three days of the trial were devoted two kinds of raw milk: raw milk intended for Price
to the charges against Michael while the remain- pasteurization and raw milk intended for direct
der of the trial was dedicated to a challenge that consumption. The farmer also tried to respond to Foundation.
Schmidt brought against the Court for a violation the government’s “science” by entering into the To obtain
of Section Seven under the Canadian Charter of record 54 sworn affidavits from his sharehold- some of our
Rights. That section states, “Everyone has the ers about how raw milk benefited their health. informative
right to life, liberty and security of the person The court refused to admit the affidavits as Real Milk
and the right not to be deprived thereof except in evidence.
accordance with the principles of fundamental Shareholder Judith McGill offered the fol- brochures,
justice.” lowing words on why shareholder stories should contact the
Schmidt represented himself at the trial and be considered as evidence: “It is a science that Foundation at
did an outstanding job in presenting his case. The is described through narrative—people telling (202)
farmer argued that when he entered into agree- each other about why they searched out raw milk 363-4394.
ments with his shareholders, he was “acting in and what it’s meant for their health. That is our Check out our
a private capacity, engaging in private contract pre-test and post-test, what happened before I
with other individuals who were also acting in a started drinking raw milk and what happened website,
private capacity.” While Schmidt recognized that after I drank raw milk. There are no clever ex- www.
“a sovereign society has the right to regulate the perimental controls set out in advance. No way to RealMilk.com
trade and commerce of raw milk as it perceives do factorial analysis to determine or link causal for additional
necessary for the public good,” he asked, “Can factors. Life is far too complex for that. There information
regulations for the public good be imposed on are just families talking to each other about what
two or more individuals coming to an agreement they find remarkable about the changes to their and sources
and understanding in their private capacity?” health. It is in the language of what happened of Real Milk
Schmidt noted that there was no law banning as a result rather than scientific conclusions. products.

SPRING 2009 Wise Traditions 93