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As if in a time warp, the opposition attorneys’ arguments ignored the improvements that have occurred in farm
hygiene, milking technology, refrigeration, and farm management safety practices; despite all of these improvements
in raw milk safety, the attorneys took up the long-held position of holding raw milk to a standard of perfection, a
double standard applied to no other food. In his appearance before the court representing the attorney general of
Ontario, Padraic Ryan argued that allowing raw milk would increase illness in the non-raw milk drinking population
through secondary transmission, ignoring the fact that this could be true with any food. Ryan mentioned one case
in England where there was a secondary transmission of illness through people ill from raw milk consumption but
did not bring up any Canadian cases.
The court filings and arguments before Justice O’Brien only strengthen the belief that the real intent of the ban
is to protect the dairy industry. In an exchange with the Justice, Ryan indicated there was no prohibition against
Ontario residents crossing the border into the U.S. to purchase raw milk; the provincial ban covers only the sale
or distribution within Ontario. Likewise, the national ban covers only the sale or distribution of raw milk within
Canada‘s borders, not the acquisition of the product within the U.S. If raw milk was an actual threat to public health
then there would be a ban on the possession and consumption of it; there is no ban. The national and provincial
laws give business to American dairies that Canadian dairy farmers should have.
Canadian dairy farmers could have used a lifting of the ban a long time ago. In 1960, there were around one
hundred forty thousand dairies in the country; today, there are eleven thousand. The only market that dairy farmers
2
in Ontario have for their milk is the Dairy Farmers of Ontario Cooperative, shackling the farmer to a commodity
system that is a race to the bottom with the rapidly increasing consolidation of the industry.
Interestingly, when Cheng was wrapping up his argument before the court, he requested that if the justice ruled
for the applicants, the federal parliament be given two years to develop a regulatory scheme for raw milk sales and
distribution—better late than never. Michael Schmidt first tried to convince the government to pass legislation over
twenty years ago. If the justice does rule for the applicants, its effect would be to end the current raw milk ban in
place in the remaining provinces. If the justice rules against the applicants, Canada will continue to be an outlier
at the expense of consumer choice and dairy farm viability. It’s time to acknowledge the raw milk ban is way out
of proportion to the risks of the product. Michael Schmidt started fighting for legal raw milk sales in 1994; since
that time, while Canada has remained committed to the dairy monopoly, seventeen states in the U.S. have either
legalized or expanded access to raw milk though legislation, rulemaking, court decision or policy.

1. Whitehead J, Lake B. Recent trends in unpasteurized fluid milk outbreaks, legalization, and consumption in the United States. PLOS Cur-
rents Outbreaks. 2018 Sep 13. Edition 1. doi: 10.1371/currents.outbreaks.bae5a0fd685616839c9cf857792730d
2. McKenna, Barrie. Canada’s Dairy Industry Is a Rich Closed Club. The Globe and Mail. 25 June 2015 (updated 15 May 2018). Accessed at
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadas-dairy-industry-is-a-rich-closed-club/article25124114/

.
2000 Raw milk available in 27 states

2020 Raw milk available in 43 states

(thanks to the efforts of A Campaign for Real Milk)
Our Goal: Raw milk available in all 50 states! Help us

make raw milk sales legal in the remaining 7 states.

WINTER 2020 Wise Traditions 91