Being a Lunatic Farmer

Posted on February 3, 2012 by admin

BOOK REVIEW by Maureen Lefebvre

I LOVED this book. In another life I would be a lunatic farmer too – one who respects the land, respects animals and handles both with knowledge and the understanding that we cannot abuse the system and expect to get away with it forever. In conversation-like fashion Joel Salatin tells of his family business raising cows, chickens, and eggs on a sustainable farm in Virginia. Joel travels widely helping to make people aware that it is possible to feed our country without resorting to chemicals, feedlots and monocrops, mega-acre farms. In this book he includes his philosophy, research and resources as well as practical how-tos. Each chapter concludes with takeaway points. For example, chapter one is titled “Growing Soil”. The takeaway points were:

Herbivores and perennials are the most efficacious way to build soil.
Tillage and annuals account for the lion’s share of erosion.
Depleted soil can be rebuilt and regenerated.
Carbon is the key to soil health.

You don’t have to be a regular farmer to appropriate the wisdom in this book. Taking it to heart will help you better care for any size urban yard you have and give you an appreciation of the process behind organic farming and encourage you to support local suppliers of this type of produce and meat.

Michael Schmidt Ends 37 Days of Hunger Strike!

Posted on November 4, 2011 by publisher

Michael Schmidt has met with Premier Dalton McGuinty ending 37 days of his hunger strike. Here is the full story:
Michael Schmidt meets with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

Thank you, to all the people who have written letters of support for Michael Schmidt. Michael Schmidt has not spoken about the meeting with Premier Dalton McGuinty. I will update this posting when more information becomes available.

Updated November 4, 2011: Here is a statement from Michael Schmidt about his meeting with Premier Dalton McGuinty:
“This hunger strike was about starting a dialogue with the leader of this province. I have been on this human journey for 17 years looking for constructive dialogue, and I have been dragged through the courts for a crime that has no victims. My aim was simple: to take this to the top and to begin a conversation with our leader, one-on-one. To meet, as equal human beings, not as Premier and Farmer. It was because of this that I undertook my hunger strike. And this morning, I met with Premier McGuinty, in his office, and we have begun our dialogue, and because of this, I am ending my hunger strike today.

I have always had my hand outstretched in an offer for dialogue and feel that today, for the first time in 17 years, this hand has been taken and dialogue at the highest level has finally begun. I truly hope that the government will refrain from any further attacks on farmers until this dialogue has had a chance to take its proper course. We will be working closely with MPPs over the coming weeks to table a private member’s bill.”

Weston A Price Foundation Urgent Raw Milk Action Alert

Posted on October 21, 2011 by publisher

I received this Urgent Action Alert from the Weston A Price Foundation. They are requesting all Weston A Price Foundation members and people interested in food freedom to commence a letter writing campaign to mobilize against government interference with property ownership rights and food freedom. A sample letter can be found in the comment section of this posting:

BACKGROUND
On Wednesday, September 28, 2010, the Ontario government won its appeal against biodynamic farmer, Michael Schmidt. The appeal reversed the former ruling, which confirmed cow share members’ right to obtain raw milk products. Justice Peter Tetley rejected Schmidt’s argument that providing raw milk to cow share owners who are aware of any health risks was his legal right.

Schmidt has been fighting for the right to provide raw milk at his Grey County farm ever since it was raided by government officials in 1994. The recent ruling convicts Michael on 15 of 19 charges and reverses last year’s lower court decision to acquit him of all charges. This latest judicial ruling basically endorses governmental interference of property ownership rights and violates basic human rights to food freedom.

Since this ruling, Michael has embarked on a hunger strike and faces imminent danger of another raid to his farm, as do other farms that participate in Cowshare Canada. He feels that our movement is in great danger and we must act in unison now!

Michael’s urgent message: “We must mobilize our forces throughout Canada and the US with an enormous public outcry. We need to put relentless pressure on legislators in both countries—national, state and local—and also on health authorities through a massive letter-writing and call-in campaign. We also need to organize face-to-face meetings whenever possible. Canada desperately needs US support in these matters, so we encourage all US members to send messages to key Canadian contacts as well.”

ACTION TO TAKE
It is imperative that we organize to a much higher level. We need everyone in our movement to participate. We need:

At the very least, all members (US and Canada) should write to Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario. Submit an email or send a fax to 416.325.3745.
US citizens to write letters and call local, state, and federal legislators in the U.S. and to write letters to Canadian members of the Provincial Parliament in Ontario and British Columbia listed in this alert.
Canadian citizens to write letters to Canadian members of the Provincial Parliament in Ontario and British Columbia listed in this alert.
All need to write letters and call your local health officials.

Michael is depending on us to back up his brave efforts for food freedom!

CANADIAN CONTACTS
Dalton McGuinty, Premier
Legislative Building, Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON, M7A 1A1
T: 1.800.387.5559
F: 416.325.3745
Send an Email

Tim Hudak, Leader of the Opposition
Unit M1, 4961 King St. E, Beamsville, ON, L0R 1B0
timhudak@niagara.net
T: 905.563.1755
T:1.800.665.3697

Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
242 Piccadilly Street, London, ON, N6A 1S4
dmatthews.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
T: 519.432.7339
F: 519.432.0613

Andrea Horwath, Leader of the New Democratic Party, Hamilton Centre Constituency
Suite 200, 20 Hughson Street South, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 2A1
ahorwath-co@ndp.on.ca
T: 905.544.9644
F: 905.544.5152

Randy Hillier, Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington Constituency
Unit 1, 105 Dufferin Street, Perth, ON, K7H 3A5
randy.hillierco@pc.ola.org
T: 613.267.8239
F: 613.267.7398

Jack MacLaren
2 Beaverbrook Mall, Unit 102, Kanata, ON, K2K 1L2
jack@jackmaclaren.com
T: 1.877.780.5225

Greg Sorbara, Liberal MPP in Ontario Constituency Office
140 Woodbridge Avenue, Unit AU8 – Market Lane, Woodbridge, ON, L4L 4K9
gsorbara.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
T: 905.851.0440
F: 905.851.0210

Larry Miller, Federal Conservative MP, Chair of Standing Committee on Agriculture in Ottawa
1131 2nd Avenue East, Suite 208, Owen Sound, ON, N4K 2J1
millela1@parl.gc.ca
T: 519.371.1059
F: 519.371.1752

Call To Action: Raw Milk and Food Freedom

Posted on October 16, 2011 by publisher

I received an email today from Barbara Schellentberg of the Weston A Price Foundation Vancouver Chapter. She is one of the shareholders with Our Cows, once called Home On The Range, a herdshare program in Chilliwack, BC. They are trying to get 10,000 signatures in the hope of stopping the government from infringing on their right to enjoy the products of their herd. If you would like to support this group’s right to drink raw milk from their own herd, without onerous government interference, please sign the petition:
Support Food Freedom Petition

Here is Alice Jongerden speaking at Occupy Vancouver about how she was once a farmer until the Government said “No!”:
Alice Jongerden Speaks out at Occupy Vancouver

Here is a link to a video about a Raw Milk Rally with Michael Schmidt on October 12, 2011. Michael Schmidt should be an inspiration to all citizens of Canada opposing oppressive bureaucracies. Michael Schmidt has been fighting the Government of Canada for over seventeen years trying to ensure you have food freedom. If you would like to learn more about his work please see this link.

Cheers,

Caroline Cooper
Weston A Price Foundation Kamloops Chapter
eatkamloops.org

Updated October 17, 2011: Here is an essay by Karen Selick of the Canadian Constitution Foundation about liberty and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. She says: “Totalitarianism is the name for a political regime in which virtually all aspects of citizens’ lives are subject to state control.”
The Courts Are Milking Their Power for All It’s Worth

2011 Weston A Price Conference: Mythbusters!

Posted on August 7, 2011 by publisher

When: November 11-14, 2011
Where: Sheraton Dallas Hotel, Dallas, TX
Cost: Save $50.00 before August 15, 2011

This is the last week of reduced price for the 2011 Weston A Price Conference. For more information and to book online please see 2011 Conference: Mythbusters!

Olivia’s New Calf

Posted on May 3, 2011 by publisher

This is a picture was taken about an hour after Olivia's calf was born.

Olivia, our Jersey cow, gave birth to a female pure-bred Jersey calf this morning! It was an unassisted birth. If you would like to learn more about Olivia please read Looking for Another Cow. This is Olivia’s second calf. Olivia’s calf is so beautiful. We are very excited!

It wasn’t easy hand-milking Olivia. Olivia has never been hand-milked before because she came from Wildfire Jersey, a commercial dairy in Armstrong, BC. Olivia has not let us touch her even after four months of daily care. In the past, if we come within touching distance she would always back off. Olivia would show interest when I brushed the other cows but she would never allow me to brush her. Olivia had even managed to partly remove her halter which hung from her neck for months because we couldn’t get close enough to fix it.

Shaen and I spent some time discussing if we should try to milk her now or wait until evening. We knew we had to milk her. Her bag was bursting and her teats were angled off in all directions with the pressure. We knew that Olivia would be uncomfortable with all the pressure in her bag. We also had experience last year with scour. We didn’t what the calf to become sick. We decided to try to milk her this morning. If you don’t know what scour is, please read Patty’s Second Birth for more information.

We took some time to game plan how we were going to handle Olivia. We got all of our equipment ready. We organized two 15-20′ ropes, each with an oval straight gate carabiner on one end. Shaen carried one and I carried the other. We dealt with all the other cows and got their feed ready. We got Olivia’s feed ready and her dairy “treats”. We knew she wouldn’t leave her calf so we used the calf to calm Olivia. One at a time we entered the pen. Shaen checked the calf. He petted and cooed over the beautiful calf. As he was checking the calf, Olivia was watching Shaen, and I clipped the carabiner on Olivia’s harness. I dropped the rope and let Olivia back-up. This was a very important step. If I tried to hold a spooked cow, she would drag me all over creation. I backed out of the pen. After Shaen checked the calf, he picked up the end of the rope and did two turns around a tree. I came back into the pen and walked behind Olivia and Shaen would take up the slack on the rope until Olivia was within a few feet of the tree. Olivia panicked but we got her controlled. Shaen put on another halter. I backed out of the pen and used a low whispering voice to “talk” with Olivia. Olivia was pulling against the tree the whole time Shaen milked her. Because she was pulling, she wasn’t kicking or stepping in the milk pail. The calf slept through the milking.

This is Cinnamon's first feed. The chickens are trying to find any small pieces of placenta that Olivia hasn't eaten. Yes, it is a shock the first time you see a cow eating a placenta.

As I whispered calming words to Olivia, she would turn her ears forward in interest. Olivia looked more and more relieved after we got off some of her milk. We milked out 7L and she was still full. Olivia is going to be a high producer of milk. With this type of production, we will have to milk her three times a day. A cow’s first milk is called colostrum. Colostrum is very special. A calf needs colostrum for survival. People like it for its healing qualities. Here is what Weston A Price Foundation says about colostrum:
Cooking with Colostrum
Raw Colostrum Legal in California

Happy Birth Day!

Just One Sit-Down Family Meal

Posted on November 21, 2010 by publisher

This is a posting I wrote back in early October. It is quite a contrast from today, since we are pulling out our winter boots, snow pants and jackets after the first snow of the year:

Shaen and I spent the afternoon working at cutting back the tomato plants. We removed leaves and extra green growth from the tomato plants in an attempt to encourage the plant to put its energy into ripening the tomatoes before the first killer frost. Shaen found a monster eggplant and numerous hot peppers hiding in the greenhouse. Sonja worked on pulling up beets and baby carrots. Erika found a potato plant and dug up the tubers. Erika danced through the garden collecting ripe cherry tomatoes like some sort of fairy nymph. The girls cleaned and processed their vegetables.

For dinner, I made a mixture of baked vegetables in a glass baking dish. Most of the vegetables came from Farmhouse Herbs an organic farm that sells at the Kamloops Farmer’s Market. It hasn’t been a good year for our garden and Farmhouse Herbs has supplied my household with much of our vegetables. The vegetables included: parsnips, onions, green onion tops, garlic, beets and carrots. (By the way, those golden beets were the best beets I have ever eaten.) I added herbs gathered by the garden nymph, and mixed in sea salt and fat from my grease bucket. Please read The Great Grease Bucket: Something for Nothing for more information. In another glass baking dish, I cut the freshly dug potatoes and added sea salt and fat. I used our own garden carrots, lightly cooked in butter and dressed with fresh garden parsley.

When Shaen came in at the end of the day, he cooked three chuck steaks on the barbecue. Chuck steak is normally not grilled because it is considered a tough cut of meat but these steaks were tender and very juicy. We got the grassfed veal from Jocko Creek Ranch last winter. For more information please read Grassfed Veal and Cooking With Grass-Fed Meat and Fowl.

When we sat down to our meal, we each enjoyed a glass of fresh cow’s milk. There was a salad of sun ripened cherry tomatoes and herbs. The girls loaded their potatoes with raw butter I made last year. (I privately thanked Patty, our Jersey cow, for the wonderful dairy products.) It was a delicious meal. The meal was wonderful because so much of the food came from our own land or from the land of people we know and trust. We were hungry after working the afternoon in the garden. What also made the meal special is that we ate it together and enjoyed each other’s company.

I just wanted to tell about one sit-down family meal. It wasn’t a special meal but the way we eat normally. This meal might seem odd to the modern eater, rushing between the office, take-out, and home but this meal would have been the norm a generation ago.

Oven Baked Seasonal Vegetables
4-6 large carrots, cut into large 3″ pieces
4-6 parsnips, cut into large 3″ pieces
2 orange beets or turnips, cut into wedges
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1-2 leek tops, cut into large 3″ pieces
2-3 large garlic cloves, cut in half
1T fresh rosemary, chopped
1tsp sea salt
1tsp fresh growing black pepper
1T grease from the grease bucket
1-2 potatoes, cut into wedges, optional
The trick to this meal is to use the best seasonal vegetables you can find. Cut all the vegetables into pieces about the same size so they will cook evenly. Use a large glass baking dish and mix all the cut vegetables together with the grease, black pepper, sea salt and rosemary. Cook at 350F and stir every 15 minutes for about 45 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through.

Sun Ripened Tomato Salad
2-3c sun ripened cherry tomatoes, whole
1/2c garden parsley, finely chopped
1/4c red onion, finely chopped (optional)
Add all ingredients together in a wooden salad bowl. Add 2-3T of Whole Seed Mustard Dressing. The recipe can be found in Making Homemade Lacto-Fermentation Whole Seed Mustard.

Hey farmer farmer
Put away the DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell

What’s a Starving Student to do About Food?

Posted on October 22, 2010 by publisher

Recently, I was contacted by Mimi Nakamura, a fourth year journalism student at Thompson Rivers University. She was working on a story in her journalism class regarding local foods in Kamloops. After the interview, I started wondering if other people on a budget might find the information useful. Here is our interview.

1. How did you decide to start the website eatkamloops.org?
I started the eakamloops.org website because I was new to Kamloops and I was finding it difficult to find local food. I wondered if other newcomers were having the same problem. I was a member of the Weston A Price Foundation and decided I wanted to do more for my community so I became a WAPF Chapter Leader. Part of my responsibilities is to maintain a list of local food producers. (Local food producers can be found here.) Doing a website is beyond what the WAPF requires but I thought it would be easier for people to get information about local food this way.

2. Do you personally buy local food? If so, what do you usually get?
My family gets most of our fresh produce and meat locally. We look for organic, un-sprayed and/or pasture-based food. We tend to do large bulk purchases once or twice a year for dried goods and “exotic” foods. When we buy food from farmers we don’t know, we buy certified organic. We buy whole foods and avoid processed foods:
Winter Storage I
Winter Storage II
Presently, we produce a number of products for our own personal use: raw dairy, pastured eggs, pastured fowl, and some produce. We use organic grains, legumes and un-sprayed hay. We give the animals whole food supplements such as kelp, unrefined sea salt, oyster shells, rock minerals, etc.

3. What is the importance of consuming local food?
Local food is important but it is just as important how the food is grown. Ideally, buy local food that is grown using organic principles and/or pasture-based. What’s the good of “local” food that is loaded with herbicides and pesticides filling the local environment with poison? There is a new good reason to buy certified organic foods. Certified organic foods do not allow GMOs. There is mounting evidence that GMO crops are contaminating non-GMO crops, including organically grown crops. No one really knows what will happen to our ecosystem due to these changes in the basic genetic structure of our food crops. (This is a scary thought. These genetic changes are permanent and cannot be stopped.)

4. What is the challenge that local farmers are facing right now?
The greatest barrier for small farmers and ranchers is government regulators with their one-size-fits-all-regulations. We will not have a local food system if those guys get their way. Many of the regulations now needed in the Industrial Food System was caused by the practices of the Industrial Food System itself. I would like to see consumers being able to buy directly from the farmer or rancher without onerous government regulations. Read some of my postings on raw milk. Just remember, this issue has nothing to do with “safety” and everything to do with “control”. I talk about this sad state of affairs in Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick.

5. Do you have any suggestions for university students to buy local food but stay on their grocery budget? (Any suggestions for cheap but healthy local food diet?)
Everyone’s situation is different but I would suggest a student read 25 Steps to Nourishing Traditional Foods and Where to Start: Limited Time and Budget. The student should try to work on one new step every two weeks. Some steps are easy, others are costly, and some require planning. Many of these steps will save money in the short and long term. Having a stable household would be ideal but for many students this would be difficult. Before looking for “cheap” food, a student should get reacquainted with their kitchen and learn how to cook real food. Without the skills to cook whole foods, the food will go to waste which would be costly for the student. After the student masters cooking with whole ingredients, the student should stop eating processed foods out of the Industrial Food System. The Industrial Food System specializes in “cheap” convenience foods but the student will pay again and again with their health. Cheap food isn’t very cheap when a student is always sick and weak.

At the same time, my family eats extremely well, cheaply. We produce many expensive foods ourselves by putting in our own labor. We are very careful about how we feed and treat our animals so the food we produce is of the highest quality. Foods we do not produce ourselves, we get in bulk from quality sources. We eat our meals together at home and we almost never eat out. When we are traveling we bring our own food.

I have another suggestion for the starving students looking for good, cheap food. I just found a new website by Arabella Forge. She is the WAPF Melbourne Chapter Leader and has just written a new book called Frugavore. Unfortunately, her book is not available in North America yet, but her website is very helpful. Take the Frugavore Challenge!
Frugavore introduces modern readers to the fundamentals of peasant cuisine, in which nothing is wasted, every part of the animal eaten, abundance from the garden preserved in traditional ways, and delicious meals prepared from scratch with fresh, local ingredients.
Thumbs Up Book Reviews by Sally Fallon

Updated December 9, 2010: Wendell Berry has been writing passionately about local food and farming issues for over forty years. For more information please read Wrong Turn and Are you a producer or a consumer?

Updated Feburary 13, 2011: I got out of school during in the late 1980s during a really bad recession. It was impossible to find work and it was one of the reasons I ended up starting my own business. During those early years I read a book that changed the way I looked at money. The book is called Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicke Robin. I would highly recommend this book for any young person getting out on their own and trying to get control of their finances. I also got a chance to read Frugavore. It’s a fun book with great money saving recipes.

Helping Michael Schmidt, Raw Milk Activist

Posted on September 23, 2010 by publisher

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Thomas Jefferson

I received an email from Karen Selick. She is the Litigation Director for the Canadian Constitution Foundation and Michael Schmidt’s lawyer in the upcoming battle in the Supreme Court of Canada. For further information about this important issue please read:
Michael Schmidt, Raw Milk Activist, Aquitted!
Canadian Government Appeals Michael Schmidt’s Acquittal

Dear Raw Milk Supporter,

Would you like to help dairy farmer Michael Schmidt as he continues to fight for your freedom of choice in food?

Consumers shared in the victory on January 21, 2010 when the Ontario Court of Justice pronounced Michael “not guilty” on 19 charges relating to the production and distribution of raw milk. But the province of Ontario wasn’t happy with that decision: the government instructed its lawyers to appeal to a higher court.

Fortunately for Michael, a legal organization has volunteered to step into the fray and handle his side of the appeal. It’s the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), a registered charitable organization that stands up for the constitutional rights and freedoms of Canadians. The CCF thinks this case might set an important precedent for individual freedom. CCF litigation director Karen Selick is acting for Michael on the appeal.

There’s still plenty of work to be done, and it continues to be a David-and-Goliath battle. The Ontario government still has half-a-dozen lawyers working on this file, being paid out of your tax dollars. The CCF has only one lawyer on the file, and raises its money through the generous donations of volunteers across the country. If you’d like to contribute to this worthy cause, you can do so by making an online donation by credit card to the CCF:
DONATE NOW

Canadian donors who give $25 or more will receive a charitable donation receipt that they can use to reduce their income taxes. What a great way to channel some of your tax money away from the prosecution and towards the defense!

While you are visiting the CCF website, you may want to visit its Consumer Choice page, containing links to newspaper articles and radio interviews about raw milk, here:
Consumer Choice Litigation: got freedom?
Consumer Choice Litigation: CCF Publications

Updated September 23, 2010: I have made a $50 personal donation and GO BOX Storage has made a $200 corporate donation to Michael Schmidt’s legal fund. My heart was warmed when Erika, my 8 year old daughter, made a personal donation of $5 from her own money to Michael Schmidt’s legal fund. Erika said that since she can only drink raw milk, she would like to help make it possible for other children in Canada to drink raw milk too. If you believe in food freedom, please donate what you can. Even $5 can make a difference if all of us give a little.

Updated September 24, 2010: Sonja, my 10 year old daughter, decided not to give to Michael Schmidt’s legal fund. She said it was because no one can fight the government and win. I was sad that Sonja felt that way at 10 years of age. I told her, if the government has got that powerful and is doing actions you cannot support, it is even more of a reason to fight back. She just gave me a sad look. I guess many people will feel the same, but this is one of the few times I have donated money for anything in decades.

Updated September 28, 2010: Michael Schmidt has taken over Home On The Range, a herd-share in Chilliwack, BC. The new name of the herd-share program is Our Cows. Michael Schmidt will be speaking at 11:00am in front of the Fraser Health Authority Safety Office at 45470 Menholm Road, Chilliwack, BC. For more information please read Let The Media Circus Begin: Local BC Raw Milk Action Plan.

Updated September 30, 2010: I can’t help but love Michael Schmidt and his battle for our collective food freedom:
Raw Milk “Drink In” At Fraser Health Authority Office
Dictatornship of Bureaucrats Behind Raw Milk Fight
Raw Milk Giveaway

February 22, 2011: Here is some essays from Kimberly Hartke. She is the Weston A Price Foundation Publicist. She has posted a number of articles called Raw Milk Around the World. I particularly like the article by Sir Julian Rose, a vocal supporter of raw milk, which states: “If you are still in doubt about the benefits of real, fresh milk, you might be reassured to know that the Queen of England drinks nothing less.”

Michael Schmidt, Raw Milk Activist, Acquitted!

Posted on January 21, 2010 by publisher

Michael Schmidt has been fighting for the rights of his herd share members to consume raw milk for the last three years. The National Post said today: “Justice of the Peace Paul Kowarsky upheld the legislation, but said in this case Mr. Schmidt did not break the law because he was distributing to joint owners of cows and not the public at large.”

The Globe and Mail today describes the issue as: “really about the extent to which consumers should be free to buy foods, however rarefied, and whether constitutional rights stretch as far as the grocery basket, farmer’s market and the people who own shares in – but do not live on – food producing farms.

This is not just about raw milk, this is about people’s rights to choose whatever foods they want. I advocate for choice, said Joseph Heckman, an organic farming expert at Rutger’s University in New Jersey who has consumed raw milk since childhood and now studies it.”

The court has upheld our individual rights to hire someone to care, milk and pasture animals. They have upheld our rights to jointly own a herd of animals. This ruling may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. But right now, Michael Schmidt can go back to the business of running his farm.

Updated January 23, 2010: Patricia Meyer-Watt CNP From the Weston A Price Foundation Toronto Chapter posted this article from the Toronto Star about Michael Schmidt’s acquittal. The essence of why herd share programs are legal is outlined in the following statement: “Schmidt has long maintained he does not break the law by providing milk to the cow’s owners, all of whom purchase a portion of the cow and pay to board the animal at Glencolton Farms. The prohibition on raw milk in Ontario does not apply to farmers drinking raw milk from their own cows. [Justice of the Peace Paul] Kowarsky ruled Schmidt’s cow-share program did not break the law because the farmer only provided milk and raw milk products to his members, did not advertise or market his operation, and that cow-share members were aware they consumed milk at their own risk.”

Updated January 25, 2010: There is celebration at the Weston A Price Foundation over Michael Schmidt’s acquittal. Kimberly Hartke is the publicist for the WAPF. Kimberly tells the story of her great grandmother’s recovery from TB using the raw milk cure. She has a posting on the Royal Family’s support of raw milk and many other interesting postings.

Updated April 5, 2010: If you would like to read the Judgment from His Worship P. Kowarsky Justice of the Peace for Regina V M. Schmidt on January 21, 2010.

eatkamloops.org

loving local food

Category Archives: WAPF – Kamloops Chapter