Raw milk on trial in Ontario, court could permanently shut down sales

It’s shocking to think that in some parts of the world GMO food and alcohol are legal, yet raw milk – a natural, nutritious food consumed by humans around the globe for centuries – is illegal. In recent years, raw milk has received a bad reputation due to several cases of foodborne illnesses.

Though extra care is needed when handling raw milk, why is it that they ban raw milk while modern, conventional agricultural systems linked to a host of illnesses have not resulted in the banning of these Frankenfoods? There is only one answer to that question: We are being controlled by the government and powerful monopolies that put profits before people.

Since raw milk cannot easily be commercialized or distributed, the dairy industry doesn’t want to see its popularity grow any further. Raw milk is usually produced by small family farms. Can you see why Big Dairy has been fighting to make this natural product illegal? They can’t get a piece of the pie. For years, the dairy industry has sent out highly paid lobbyists to twist the arms of money-greedy policy makers to unjustly terrorize family farms that are successful addressing the increased demand for unprocessed, fresh milk.

An increasing number of people want to know where their food comes from and how it’s produced. That’s something we at Natural News can only applaud. Yet the dairy industry, backed up by the government, seem to be on a different page.

Canadian farmer fights for raw milk

Since 1981, the sale of raw milk has been banned by the Canadian government out of fear of possible Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria contaminations. Ontario has taken it a step further by restricting people from giving away raw milk for free. Outlawing raw milk, however, hasn’t stopped one farmer from providing this age-old nutritious food to the people.

According to Modern Farmer, raw milk outlaw Michael Schmidt has been in and out the Canadian Province Court of Ontario over the past couple of decades. His crime? The production and distribution of raw, unpasteurized milk. Given the fact that raw milk is illegal in Canada, Schmidt’s co-op has been operating without a license, thus violating the Canadian Milk Act. For nearly 25 years, Schmidt has been fighting to keep the raw milk flowing freely.

Though Schmidt wants to see raw milk legalized, he’s not even fighting for the outright legalization of raw milk in Canada. He just wants to give the people the freedom to make their own informed decisions with their own cow.

“It’s a total police state when it comes to raw milk here because there’s absolutely no leniency on any level,” he told Modern Farmer. “They are saying it’s the most dangerous substance you can think of and should never be allowed. There’s not even a proper scientific debate about it. It’s all on an emotional, fear-based level.”

In one of the latest court battles, Schmidt took up his claims against the Crown. Any day now, an Ontario judge could rule a permanent injunction against Schmidt’s co-op, prohibiting both the sale and purchase of raw milk, Food Safety News reported. If the judge rules against his case, then the distribution and probably the consumption of raw milk will be seen as a criminal act.

If Schmidt loses this case, all legal and court costs, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, could immediately fall upon him and his co-op members. Payments by others will not be permitted, Food Safety News noted.

Mark McAfee, the owner of Organic Pastures in California, where sales of organic milk are legal at retail locations, said, “sometimes it takes a big ugly incident to make enough ugly news to create change.” (Related: Track news headlines about food freedom at FoodFreedom.news.)

Let’s us hope that after 25 years of constant fighting with the nanny state, Schmidt will be able to bring raw milk to the people legally.

Sources:

FoodSafetyNews.com

ModernFarmer.com