Michael Schmidt is a common name in the dairy industry here in Ontario, after being acquitted of all 19 charges in the Ontario Court of Justice last January for selling unpasteurized raw milk.
After reading the article “B.C. Judge orders Alice Jongerden not to milk cows” in the Vancouver Observer I can understand why Jongerden resigned from her position and allowed Schmidt to take responsibility. A risky move, with no legal counsel to represent herself and the cooperative, This was not viewed kindly upon by the judge, according to the Vancouver Observer.
The fight is the same old to us here in Ontario when on January 21,2010 Justice of the Peace Paul Kowarsky said Mr. Schmidt did not break the law because he was distributing to joint owners of cows and not the public at large. (Click here to read more)
But, the fight of raw milk can be divided into 2 different fights the first is for the consumer and the second is revalent to other dairy producers.
- Do consumers get to choose what they should be able to eat? concern about health or regulation?
- Is it fair other producers have to buy costly quota to produce regulated milk?
Briefly, what I mean about argument 1 is…that consumers should be able to choose what products they want to eat. Tim Hortons coffee vs. Coffee made at home, a homemade burger or pre-packaged, vegetables from a garden or vegetables from California.
Life is full of choices and consequences, and I can understand why many consumers are upset because they feel the government is restricting their ability to choice, almost making raw milk “illegal”
However, the story goes much deeper than saying yes or no you can have a choice…It comes down to Quota, which is the legislation in place that ensures Canadian consumers get to drink only Canadian Milk. Dairy farmers have to buy quota (the right to produce and distribute milk) and all milk is shipped, processed and handled under strict conditions by the Dairy Farmers of Canada
More on the “right to produce milk and the effect Raw Milk has on legislation” in my next post…
Filed under: Agriculture, Dairy Tagged: | Dairy Farming, Dairy Quota, Raw Milk
