From Jim Algie in the Owen Sound Sun Times:

The raw milk crusader, Michael Schmidt, talks to a reporter following the April 2011 appeal hearings that recently reversed his acquittal on 15 raw milk charges.
“There may be a legal way to challenge Ontario’s raw milk ban after all — just not the method used by Michael Schmidt.
That theme provides an interesting subtext to a recent Ontario Court of Justice decision in Schmidt’s long battle to open a legitimate niche for raw milk in Canada. A Grey County dairy farmer for more than 25 years and an intriguing character for many reasons, Schmidt has pushed his raw milk crusade well beyond what most of us would consider sensible. Recently he announced he’ll pursue a hunger strike to protest his legal situation, which seems daunting on its surface.
Quite apart from the potential health risks involved for such a fascinating individual as Michael is — he is a notable musician and all-round champion of rural culture — his hunger strike seems a needless waste of energy. It also seems beside the point that I think he wants to make in what has been a highly public 15-year-long dispute. This seems particularly so when the recent decision of Mr. Justice Peter D. Tetley in Schmidt’s case provides a relatively detailed road map for lifting some of Ontario’s raw milk sanctions. Continue reading