Raw Milk Dairying—A Continental Perspective

[Guest guest]

Raw Milk Dairying—A Continental Perspective

By Kimberly Hartke

Alice Jongerden, a Chilliwack dairy farmer, provides her shareholders milk

as dividends. And, now she finds herself in a heap of trouble with the

government. Around 250 families are dependent on her for a staple in their

daily

diet. They believe in raw milk and have invested in a farm to get it. Michael

Schmidt, a farmer in Ontario is also being prosecuted for a similar

cow-boarding program. In his case, he is facing 20 criminal counts against

him.

Both cases boil down to this. Is a cow-boarding program a scam, or is it a

legitimate, legal means of exercising one’s rights to consume a legal food, in

places where it is illegal to sell it?

Judge Cary Boswell, who found Schmidt guilty of contempt, acknowledged that

his ruling, **had nothing to do with whether or not people have the right to

consume raw milk.** Canadians have the right to consume raw milk, yet, its

sale is prohibited by law. Is it not logical for citizens to find a legal way

to exercise their rights? And, should it not be the role of government to

secure those rights?

Michael Schmidt of Glencolton Farms is not the only farmer who sells his

cows to shareholders. Numerous farms in Ontario and British Columbia offer cow

shares. In the U.S., 28 states allow raw milk sales, in some form. In the

remaining states, where sales are banned, there are hundreds of cow-boarding

programs.

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) was founded in the U.S. in

2007 to protect rights of farmers and consumers involved in direct

farm-to-consumer trade. This September, the FTCLDF began tele-seminars to

help

farmers develop cow-boarding programs. Already over 50 American farmers have

enrolled in the class.

According to Pete Kennedy, President of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense

Fund, **These farmers are not trying to skirt the law; this trend is driven by

consumers trying to exercise their rights to consume raw milk, which is

legal. Farm families have ready access to raw milk, but those who don’t have

land for a cow or farming experience need to seek other means. Cow boarding or

leasing programs fill that need.**

What is behind the increased demand for raw milk? Many American health

experts endorse it, a number of whom hail from California, where retail sale of

raw milk is legal.

Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, a prominent California endocrinologist recommends raw

milk in her popular book, The Schwarzbein Principle.

Kevin Trudeau, touts raw milk as a healthy food in his #1 NY Times

bestseller, Natural Cures They Don’t Want You to Know About.

Californian, Aajonus Vonderplanitz, author of We Want To Live, and The

Recipe for Living Without Disease, is creator of The Primal Diet, a raw food

diet

for those battling chronic disease. Vonderplanitz is also President of the

consumer campaign group, " Right To Choose Healthy Food, " which promotes

cow-leasing programs as a legal means of exercising a citizen’s right to food

freedom.

The leading proponent of raw dairy from cows raised on pasture is Sally

Fallon Morell, who grew up and raised her children in California. Her cookbook

Nourishing Traditions has sold 300,000 copies. She is also the President of

the Weston A. Price Foundation, which publishes a quarterly journal, Wise

Traditions for Food, Farming and the Healing Arts. Her work as a nutrition

educator is based on the pioneering research of a dentist in the 1930*s.

Weston

A. Price traveled the world, studying primitive tribes and their nutrition to

try and uncover the mystery of modern degenerative disease. His research

discovered the vital importance of animal fats in the human diet, and

specifically, that raw milk and cheese were a significant source of nutrients

for many

cultures.

Add to these professional endorsements, an exploding go-green consumer trend

comprised of many sympathetic causes: sustainable farming, buy local, choose

organic, and slow food. Now, layer on the popular TV cooking shows,

celebrity chefs & culinary blogs, which laud natural, whole, and raw foods.

Now,

you have a compelling picture of why raw milk produced by cows on green grass

is here to stay.

North American consumers want their governments to help them build a vibrant

new farm economy, not stand in the way.

Kimberly Hartke is the publicist for the Weston A. Price Foundation

_www.westonaprice.org_ (http://www.westonaprice.org/) , a nutrition education

non-profit with 400 local chapters and 10,500 members worldwide. WAPF has 17

chapters in Canada, 7 of which are in Ontario. Local chapter leaders are

volunteers

who help people in their community find sources of farm fresh, locally

produced food. Kimberly and her husband Keith are shareholders in a cow named

Aster. Visit her blog, _http://www.hartkeonline.blogspot.com/_

(http://www.hartkeonline.blogspot.com/) .