This time it’s different, says raw milk farmer

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Schmidt was the owner when convicted, he is the one that owes the $120,000 not the co-op or whatever they want to call it !

Seize the cows and the milking equipment if he doesn't pay up.This criminal gets way to much undeserved attention for selling a potentially lethal product.

Seize the cattle & Equipment??? Convicted already is he by your public online jury? You can't seize anything unless you get a court order and this won't happen .

Let people have the right to consume raw milk. I don't drink raw milk but have no problem if someone wants to for religious or health reasons. Same goes for cigarettes dont use them but other people have the right to smoke. If you think smoking is so bad then ban them in every store. But that wont happen as the government would lose billions . Two facers!!

I'm curious to know why the government wouldn't seize property to collect overdue fines for previous convictions? These court cases cost taxpayers a lot of money so I think when you lose and then lose again on appeal, you should pay up or face further penalties. I would say the same for anyone who ends up being convicted in the case of the disappearing sheep where I suspect the cost of investigation and court will be high.

He was convicted by a judge fair and square. Then an appeal court upheld the conviction. I see the story here didn't mention what his plans are for paying anything for that conviction.

"potentially lethal product" ??? Not one sickness in 20 years. Raw milk is consumed by over 70,000 in California from Organic Pastures, daily! Check out the rest of the Best Dairy Farmers at www.rawmilkinstitute.org for safety and compare their monthly test with the conventional farms.

Do I believe an advocacy group like the one listed in the previous comment or a silly bunch of credible scientists like the ones below who collect real hard data? Oh yeah I forgot this is all a conspiracy.

http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-questions-and-answers.html

Raw milk can kill us ? Really? Where is the proof? What about chemtrails? Radiation from Fukushima? Monsanto's glyphosate? Chemical additives in non organic GMO food? I don't drink milk, I will stay vegan but this is completely wrong. Anyone who wants to drink raw milk should be able to.

Raw milk is legally available in some States of the USA. In recent years there have been cases of serious illness (often in children) resulting from raw milk consumption. Examples are cases in Ortegon, Tenessee and California where patients were treated for HUS (haemolytic uremic syndrome) resulting from E coli O157 infection from raw milk. Severe HUS is almost certainly fatal (renal failure) without treatment (including dialysis). Survivors often have some permanent renal damage. In the last year an immunocompromised Australian patient died from complications from E coli O157 in the raw milk administered as an alternative therapy.
Really. This information isn't hard to find. But I'd agree, anyone over the age of 18 should be free to make such choices. But this isn't a choice that should be made for chhildren, pregnant women, older people and the immunocompromised.

Did you actually read or go to last food safety website ?

A Vegan who doesn't drink milk saying its okay for people to drink unpasteurized milk ? That's like someone who doesn't ride in any automobiles saying its okay for people that do drive/ride to not wear the seat belts.

Let me guess, you are a man of faith, believe that global warming is a hoax and support the conservative government - right?

why doesn't Micheal Schmidt have to pay the fine he has already been charged with?
anyone of us would have to?

Schmidt owned the farm, cow-shares owned the milk! An unconstitutional system proposed a fine and a righteous man ignored it as would I. Please, step away from the commercial system that clouds both your legal and survival instinct! The odds of a lethal result with raw milk compare to water, if it's 6 feet deep and you're not that tall, you need to learn how to swim!

If you do not have the financial ability to pay, or sufficient property to be seized and sold, you will be served with an order to attend for work and development (community service) for default on a court fine.
If you do not pay your court fine or fail to complete your work and development order, a warrant of commitment will be issued for your arrest and imprisonment.

Schmidt was the one found guilty,not the co-op or cow share holders, only him.No man is above the law!

By this reasoning we should shut down all the car companies for selling a potentially lethal product. Over 2000 people died last year in Canada as a result of of automobile accidents.

Health Canada reports that 1/3 of all Canadians will contract a food-borne illness this year. In 25 years not one of our members became sick from any of the products on our farm. There is something good going on here that bureaucrats are closing their eyes to.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Hilarious!

First of all, that's exactly the point of the co-operative - perhaps you missed it - you can't sell cows that belong to ABC to pay for the fines of D. The cows aren't his.
Secondly, the co-operative, that is those folks who've gone to great length to secure a supply of the stuff, are also going to great length to try to do so within the law. They are not criminals. Not one of them. They're people who do not blindly trust government standards for nutrition, but rather think and research for themselves, and have made an informed choice for their own bodies. They SHOULD have the right to do that.
C'mon... our government thinks it's okay to let people decide for themselves if they want to take a chance on their health by eating growth hormones and anti-biotics, which is proven to cause problems, and artery clogging, disease causing fast food, but it's not okay to let them decide for themselves to take a chance on milk?
If something doesn't make sense, then there's another adjenda. Point blank. Could it be that there's another reason they don't want us to have control over our own nutrition?

Mr. Schmidt was convicted of operating an illegal cow-share program. The recent switch to a co-op wasn't convincing enough for the courts also. He is the one that is being charged and held responsible to pay fines.
Everyone on the street these days has issues with Government, the fact is what he or the so-called co-op are doing is illegal and given what our medical profession says about raw milk, it can be dangerous to consume as well.I certainly am not ready to take Mr.Schmidt's word over our medical specialists!

Unpasteurized milk has a very sordid past, to think that it has become "trendy" or has some special "Godly given" nutritional value is truly a mistake and unfortunately as has been the case with drinking unpasteurized milk in the past,it will likely be the children of some of those "co-op" members that falls ill first.

Deadbeat dads try this disappearing asset scam too but if you owe fines, you owe fines.
The courts must collect.

Michael produces the best grass fed milk in Canada with an energy level surpassed by none. Organic can be homogenized or not as stated in the Alberta Milk web 'Ask a Dairy Farmer'. On the same web, I found out that all the other farms feed at least one of the GMO feeds (corn, soy, sugar beets, or canola) to their dairy cows. Back Off DFC or we will let the public know your SSC is.
For more information or direct communication: Richard Barrett

We consume raw milk with every meal we eat.We live on a Hutterite Colony with 120 members.Our people have been doing this for 500 years. The best way to drink milk is fresh.

How many years do you think the people in Thornhill were the milk was being delivered have been drinking raw milk ?..Its not quite the same.

a lot of them for 20 years have been members

Sean McGivern

Anyone that produces milk drinks it fresh and untreated, please show us all where people have died in Canada since 1974! You my friend talk out of both sides of your DFO mouth ,the only reason the government and DFO are after Michael Schmidt is because he does it in PUBLIC ! There are 1000 of dairy farmers sell raw milk under the DFO ,but that is alright ,hell I have bought raw milk since I sold the farms! This goes on every day but the DFO and the Government people do not raid them, would not want the PUBLIC to know that all DFO dairy farmers sell raw milk! The DFO need to clean up their own dirty dairy farms ,if the PUBLIC seen how their milk was being produced ,they would all be members of the RAW MILK CO-OP! Gwen & Bill Denby

What is the problem with these government people and our government, How do you think that people drank milk for hunderds of years, I was raised on raw milk and probably most people that are 60yr old and older probably drank nothing but raw milk a d fresh raw cream right from the farm, get a life you people and open your eyes, if handled properly this is the best form of milk.

I was there and Helped negotiate the situation,

We the People showed the Police, OMAFRA and MNR, that they can't march onto private property and distrubt some ones day without counter actions, by We the People.

Over 100 people showed up at the Farm when word got out that Shmidt and the Coop were under attack, by the Communist style dictatorship that operates under the cloak of protecting the public.

The Coop is not a public venue or institution it is a private club, group or organization.

To all the people who want to bash Schmidt they should stop and think of how they will feel when the government raids their farm for they what believe to be standard farm practices.

Schmidts coop has done no harm to anyone, never made anyone sick, they pay taxes, they hire and train young people interested in agriculture and they provide a access to a farm product many people are willing to travel weekly up to 2 hours to get.

I was there and helped to negotiate that the items that the Inspectors from the various organizations sized and had been putting into the back of a uhaul van all must be unloaded before they could leave the property.

There was originally one police officer on site with about 20 OMAFRA and MNR Inspectors as the crowd of Schmidt supporters grew another Officer was deployed and then eventually 3 more officers for a total of 5 police officers.

Supporters blocked the lane way with cars, truck, vans and farm equipment and so I negotiated with the senior Police officer that nothing was leaving farm, he told me they were taking what they had and anyone who stopped them would be charged and that all of the vehicles would be towed, So i went told the people the supports what he said they told me to go back tell they weren'nt leaving until the van was unloaded all of the inspectors left.

They finally realized that they had been over powered by We The People,
so they unloaded the van and left,

keep in the mind the huge financial costs the government have occurred with our tax dollars to fight the same battle unsuccessful for over 20 years, think about if this money had of been used to fight rural poverty or the rural drug issues that are blight to rural Ontario.

Schmidt and his private coop have harmed no one and they have asked for zero government support operate their farm, yet many of you are the same people who support alcohol and tobacco, yet tar and feather him for his stance of raw milk. shame, shame, shame,

His milk is tested on an ongoing basis by the lab in Guelph and its safe and remember NO ONE IN 21 years has ever been sick...

Sean McGivern

keep up the good work for the sale of raw molk to the public it is available to 35 million people in california dont give in to the cartell on supply mgmt

Thank you for sharing the real story of what went down, it's like I was there too.. picturing it...
I am unable to find raw milk now, I am allergic to the Vitamin D ..There's mostly Mennonites and Amish a few minutes drive away and not allowed to sell it either.

I raised 10 healthy children on raw milk.They were known as the healthiest and strongest kids on the block.Never seen a Dr. except for stitches. Do Your Research!!!!!!

I was raised on a farm and had raw milk, cream and butter daily. I had no dairy-related health issues until my parents sold the farm and we started using store-bought milk. My intolerance to dairy started then and gradually became a life-threatening allergy. Dairy can now kill me. No one can tell me raw milk is bad for you and processed milk is good. The fact is that it is the other way around!

Actually there is a lot of people that can tell you unpasteurized milk may be harmful to a person's health and they have a mountain of stats to prove it.

I've never drank raw milk, but my parents, uncles, cousins all grew up on farms and drank raw milk and never had any problems from it. This whole issue stinks of government and corporate cover-up. I live in Toronto and I'm trying to find a way to get raw milk and the public should be allowed to make their own decisions about this as well, just like they do about over the counter drugs, junk food, cigarettes, alcohol, etc. Way to go Sean McGivern and your people for helping Mr. Schmidt!

Just because somebody's parents, uncles and cousins never had a car insurance claim and/or a fire insurance claim, common sense does NOT, therefore, suggest that it is OK to not have insurance.

The above anonymous poster does a great disservice to the science of statistical probability and even common sense itself by claiming that deliberately exposing oneself to increased risk of illness is somehow common sense.

Even worse is that people who want to assume greater health risks by drinking raw milk want the rest of us to pay, through our publically-funded health insurance plan, the costs of treating whatever illness they might contract.

Hey, it's like this, all you risk-loving people who want to drink raw milk - go ahead, but don't expect the rest of society to be happy about having to pay your health care expenses if/when you get sick.

Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON

Agreed, use at own risk and if you need health care benefits because of it, then you pay the cost. Similarly, the already well know health care costs of smoking, booze & recreational drugs and perhaps over-eating should also be assumed by those that partake in such high risk habits.

Given the gov'ts recent enactment of the "Precautionary Principle" regulation to save lives, why haven't they enacted similar precautionary principle reg bans for smoking and booze?

Off topic comment deleted.

So everyone who smokes and gets cancer should pay for their own health care??

I suggest that you get yourself a gallon or two and drink them . Your body might react by making you sick or you might be ok . As humans we have for many years been sterilizing things for so long now that our natural defense is not what it used to be . Guess if you would go to Mexico and other places and drink the water then you might suffer the consequences .

So get you some raw milk and hope you only get the heat scours !!

Pathogens such as E coli O157 are endemic to dairy farms (they proliferate in the bovine digestive tract, but do not make cows sick). Dairy farm families are continuously exposed to such organisms through manure, so ingesting a few more of these bacteria in raw milk; for the most part does not result in illness. On the other hand there is little E coli O157 in urban/suburban environments (no cattle, no reservoir.....in these environments, bacteria from dog faeces tend to dominate instead). As a result, people who live in cities lack exposure to E coli O157 and represent a completely susceptible population (sounds as though that might include you). Pasteurization does not change the nutritional value of milk, so if you do obtain raw milk, you should protect your kidneys by pasteurizing it before consuming it.

That's kind of the point.. Your parents, grandparents, etc were living on the farm, working with the animals, probably playing with cow patties as children. They built up at least partial immunity through constant low-level exposure that you, raised in Toronto, simply don't have

You have

Editor: Anonymous comment will be published if resubmitted and signed.

I have known Michael and Alisa for several years, and neither of them are criminals. They are very down to earth simple living people that support the natural nutrious way of life. It is Cognitive Disonance that blocks people from having an open mind. I have drank raw milk for several years now, and have not felt better in my life. I have recently chose to use cheeses bought from a local store that is made from unpasturized milk because I don't have the finances to continue on with supporting Michael. The Government is forcing me to eat and drink what I don't want to......so, I manage with what foods meet my needs, and what I know is safe for me health wise. Most of the foods sold in grocery stores, I wouldn't waste my money on........because it is garbage food. I purchase organic......and read labels to ensure I am doing away with most of the garbage in our foods. I would encourage the Government to raid the grocery stores, and the factories that produce the garbage foods selling at our local grocery stores.
Michael and Elisa are right.....RAW MILK.....is healthy and needs to be legal in our world. If the Health Unit is worried about bacteria, then, set a law in force that will test every jar of milk bought by consumers from their farm, and for Gods sake stop all this childish drama surrounding raw milk support. They are trying to tell us something, and no one will hear them.

I drank raw milk in my childhood and was happy and healthy. Now I can't take it because of "official social policy". I regret.
Please help me.

We didn't wear seat-belts in my childhood and (luckily) were "happy and healthy" - however, our individual and collective good luck doesn't make shunning seat-belts and/or drinking raw milk an overly-wise decision for anyone, either then or now.

Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON

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