Farmer continues hunger strike over raw milk

The issue of people’s freedom to choose what kind of food they want to eat has made news across Ontario the past two weeks after an Owen Sound-area farmer had his farm shut down by the provincial government for selling raw milk.

The farmer, Michael Schmidt, began a hunger strike shortly after Ministry of Natural Resources officers raided his Glencolton Farms on Nov. 21 and seized his equipment, documents and other items. He said he will continue the strike until all of the items removed from his farm have been returned.

Selling unpasteurized milk to the public has been illegal in Ontario since 1938. The sale of raw milk is, however, permitted throughout Europe and many American states.

“I’m not arguing the fact that raw milk is better,” Schmidt said in a statement on his Web site, glencoltonfarms.com. “I know it is better. It is the cow owners’ choice to drink their milk. The fight is not about me, it’s not about the farm, it’s about the freedom of informed choice for every individual in Ontario.”

Schmidt provides food to 150 families, most of them in the Greater Toronto Area. His Web site includes testimonials from his customers about the benefits of raw milk.

In 1994 he was charged with and found guilty for selling raw milk.

“I was placed under probation for two years, meaning that I was not to produce and process any milk,” he said. “During that time, I offered the government this farm as a

research facility for the production of farm fresh milk.”

In 1995 he notified the provincial government of his intention to continue providing people with fresh farm milk from their own cows.

When there was no response from the government regarding his research offer, he announced he would conduct his own research independently and if the farm were subjected to any more raids and interference he would go on a hunger strike.

Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch will introduce a private member’s bill in the Ontario legislature tomorrow (Dec. 7) proposing an all-party task force be created to examine whether the ban should be lifted on selling unpasteurized milk.