Little raw milk drinker interviewed by CityTV reporter

Video by Marianne Else

Report from Wed. Jan 28, 2009 court proceedings and outlook for Thursday in the Michael Schmidt raw milk case

A message in the heavens?

Thursday at 9:00 am both sides will give summary statements. Starting in afternoon, the Charter, section 7 part of the case will begin with Dr. Ted Beals from Michigan. Dr. Beals will address the pathogen aspect and talk about his experience advising cow share programs across the USA. On Friday morning Dr. Ron Hull will take the stand. Then the Attorney General’s office may begin Friday afternoon with their defence against Michael’s Charter challenge.

Today the Court denied Michael’s other Charter challenges from other sections of the Charter because they were filed late and the Attorney General’s office did not have time to adequetely respond. The judge was not also willing to grant a motion arguing that Michael’s witness statement from November 2006 was made under duress or given involunarily. The judge ruled after hearing evidence from those that did the raid. The judge did say that execution of the search warrant was carried out in a deplorable way — effectively confined Michael and his farm hands in their kitchen for 7 1/2 hours.

More live video from Michael Schmidt trial, day 2, January 27, 2009

Judge seems to support validity of cowshare contract - Says Michael Schmidt. Video by Marianne Else

CBCnews.ca tries not to sound too enthusiastic about raw milk — but lots of commenters provide good content

Wasn’t CBC Newsworld going to rebroadcast the award winning documentary about Michael Schmidt and raw milk around now. Has anybody heard when and if that’s a go? Here’s an excerpt  from the latest CBCnews.ca website story on raw milk:

“Milk Given the Raw Deal?

With the current trends toward organic and raw food diets, some raw food supporters are saying it’s time to reopen the debate on unpasteurized milk.

It is illegal to sell raw, or unpasteurized, milk in Canada because of concerns about E. coli and other bacteria. But that didn’t stop Ontario farmer Michael Schmidt from setting up a deal where customers could own part of a cow, and thus get raw milk. In November 2006, his farm was raided and his equipment was seized, because authorities say he violated the Milk Act. He faces 20 charges related to illegally producing, storing and distributing raw milk.

In October 2008, Schmidt was found guilty of contempt of court for ignoring a court order to stop selling unpasteurized milk. In January 2009, Schmidt returned to court and announced plans to file a charter challenge on the grounds that the police investigation violated his right to liberty.

“The only thing that will stop me is if we — through a constructive dialogue — actually find out that milk might be dangerous,” he told reporters. “And I can guarantee it is not.”