Protesters at the Queen's Park rally for raw milk last Tuesday.
We hear that Premier McGuinty’s office is receiving in the order of 200 to 300 telephone calls a day from people urging him to meet with Michael Schmidt. And no doubt the few letters we print each day on The Bovine are just a small sampling of what Canada Post is delivering to the Premier’s office. Once again, the next time you write to your elected officials on this matter, be sure to send a copy to The Bovine at thebovine AT gmx DOT com.
Friday, October-28-11
Dear Mr. Dalton McGuinty,
Can you not even hold a dialogue with Michael Schmidt?
He asks for a dialogue, and this will bring an end to his hunger strike.
He is not a criminal, he is not doing what he is doing for profit…. He is doing it for people. He is doing it for farmers. He is doing it for justice and democracy.
Mr. McGuinty, a well read man like yourself must remember in March 1968, when Robert Kennedy, then a U.S. senator from New York, and a candidate for the Presidential nomination, met with migrant farm leader Cesar Chavez on day 25 of his hunger strike on behalf of laws to protect farm workers. Chavez ended the hunger strike after meeting with Kennedy.
Couldn’t you be a worth politician as Robert Kennedy was. Or are you too scared and/or controlled? Can you not even host a dialogue? Michael is now on day 28! Are you going to stay silent at the cost of this Canadian’s life? Is this what your life will say….”I couldn’t even talk to a man, and that talk would have saved his life.”
Just talk!!!
Sincerely,
Shirley Ann Wood
Dear Mr. McGuinty,
Michael Schmidt is 28 days into his hunger strike and is now under a doctor’s care. Please speak with him. There is no shame in this, and many of us will applaud you.
Mr. McGuinty, the ability to drink raw, fresh milk should not be restricted to those who live on farms. Considering all of the unhealthy items that we can buy, it seems ridiculous that milk is the only food we cannot buy in its natural state. Highly processed meats have not only been unmistakeably linked with Listeria but with cancer and other problems – and yet, I could feed my family hot dogs and luncheon meats daily, should I choose.
Could you explain to me why our Queen drinks raw milk and insisted on having it delivered to Princes Harry and William when they were at Eton, but regular Canadians are not allowed to choose this for ourselves? Did you realize that over 80% of dairy farmers – those who are most intimately involved with the animals and the milk – drink unpasteurized milk? We are the only G8 country to have a nation-wide ban on unpasteurized milk.
Mr. McQuinty, the horrible deaths from Maple Leaf’s Listeria-tainted meat did not mean the banning of processed meats or even the shut down of the plant. The eight or nine children who die each year from choking on balloons does not mean the banning of balloons. The thousands of vehicular deaths do not mean that we forbid driving. The many foods that cause far more food poisoning than milk – ground beef, seafood, vegetables – are unrestricted and freely available to buy in any format we choose.
My siblings and I grew up drinking unpasteurized milk – first from our grandfather’s cows and later from a nearby farmer. From experience, I can tell you that pasteurized milk and unpasteurized milk are as different as applesauce and a fresh apple. As consumers, we are not asking for the milk laws to be revoked but that we be allowed to participate in herd share programs (goat and cow).
It makes me question whether this is truly a matter of public health, or if it is more a matter of protecting the dairy cartels.
Marie Campbell
Kitchener Ontario
October-28-11
Mr McGuinty,
I would imagine that not talking to anyone, whether it is Michael Schmidt or someone else on a hunger strike, who says that they will end their strike if you talk with them….
If that individual dies as a result of you and/or your office’s inaction and refusal to have a dialogue…..
I would imagine that would be political suicide.
Imagine.
Where is the intelligence? Where is the compassion?
Is this Ontario leadership?
For the third time I petition you in writing….TALK!
Sincerely,
Shirley Ann Wood
Dear Prime Minister McGuinty and Friends in Canada,
As a US citizen I have always admired Canada as a wonderful neighbor peopled with kind, tolerant individuals with a lot of common sense.
So we are shocked at the cold impersonal and immoral stance of refusing to simply have a dialog with a man so sincere in his mission to give food choice to adults and to promote the health benefits of raw milk which has sustained humanity for millions of years!
He is willing to die for this, now into a month of fasting.. It is an impossible situation. Your government is not being asked to change the law, merely have a meeting!!
Thousands of us in the US are watching for we are under the same heinous persecution in our food system where the industrial, chemical corporate agriculture is controlling our food choices, ultimately wanting all food to be irradiated and corporate ownership of all seeds.
These are countries with basic HUMAN RIGHTS and surely the choice of what you eat is the most basic of all.
Thank you for your consideration.
Nancy Jewel Poer
Caroline Cooper
2853 Bowers Place
Kamloops, BC V1S 1W5
October 28, 2011
An Urgent Appeal: Please see Mr Michael Schmidt and talk to him about raw milk and food freedom.
Dear Honourable Dalton McGuinty,
Please see Mr Schmidt and talk to him about raw milk and food freedom. I would like to believe I live in a country that listens to passionate communication from citizens. Mr Schmidt speaks for many of us who enjoy raw milk from cows we love. All we ask is the freedom to continue to consume our raw milk without government interference.
Some of us are lucky enough to have our own goats or cows. But there are many people that want to consume raw milk but do not have the time, skill, land, or correct zoning to have their own animals. These people need to have some sort of practical option. Cowshares or Herdshares are private contractual agreements between the farmer and the customer. Herdshares allows the customer to own part of the herd and the system of production. Herdshares are not a public activity requiring the oversight of government and are a unique solution to local food security.
Many people consider it crucial to their health to obtain high quality foods directly from local, organic, or pasture-based farms. These foods include meat from grass-fed animals, eggs from free-range chickens, and raw dairy products from pastured animals. These foods are very nutrient dense and cannot be found in the industrial food system. In a democratic society, I would hope, people would have the right to freely choose the type of food we put in our bodies. Without mastery over our bodies, we are nothing but slaves.
Sincerely,
Ms Caroline Cooper
Weston A Price Foundation Kamloops Chapter
Dear Mr. McMeekin:
I know you have heard about Michael Schmidt, the dairy farmer who is on a hunger strike (this is the 29th day) for responsible food freedom.
He wants to meet with Premier Dalton McGuinty and has yet, not heard from him. Our group on Facebook has over 4,000 members and this is just in a few days. Michael is getting support from all over the world; from well-known to us ‘little people.’
Mr. Schmidt’s farm has been raided twice by the Canadian authorities. Yet, as Mr. Schmidt was conducting a raw milk cow-share program, it was only after potential members were educated about drinking raw milk – pros and cons – that they were allowed to join.
The government section, The Ministry of Natural Resources, used an undercover spy who changed her name (Susan Allerton became Susan “Taylor”) in order to get in. After making her first purchase of cheese, she took it directly to a lab where it was confirmed that it did contain unpasteurized milk.
Michael Schmidt was tried -and- AQUITTED of the charges by Judge Paul Kowarsky. Regarding Citation R. vs Schmidt, 210ONCJ9 In his ruling he stated:
”181. While all of the products grown and produced by the defendant are available for sale to every member of the public who is prepared to pay the price, the milk and milk products are reserved for sale and distribution only to specific members of the public, namely those who are knowledgeable (not vulnerable), paid-up and properly informed members of the cow share program especially created by the defendant so as to make these products available for certain members of the public who wish to obtain them. By so doing, the defendant maintains that he has done everything reasonably possible to achieve that purpose while remaining within the confines and the spirit of the legislation. I agree.”
Mr. Schmidt’s ruling was appealed by the Canadian Government and Grey Bruce Health and it was recently overturned by Judge Tetley.
Michael ONLY wants a meeting with Premier McGuinty. In a quote from Michael regarding this:
“I respectfully ask that the Ontario and BC governments agree to a constructive dialogue on how we can provide a framework to enable people to make real choices about their food and what they eat, beginning with raw milk and the implementation of a framework that grants legal standing for cow share operations in Ontario and BC. This objective also includes the end of the current prosecutions of cow shares which meet proper production standards.”
Mr. McGuinty has not contacted him. Tomorrow will be the 30th day that Michael has not eaten. How much longer can he go? What is McGuinty’s reasoning for not talking to him? Is he afraid that the big dairy factions will back away from supporting him? The small ‘raw’ milk consumer base cannot possibly be a threat to the them!
I believe, as do many others, that we should have a choice on the foods we eat. If I want to buy something from my local farmer, that is between that farmer and myself. As long as the products are produced in sanitary conditions (which they are) then the governments should stay out of farm-to-consumer affairs.
Please, PLEASE – do what you can to help get Mr. McGiunty to at least talk to Michael.
Respectfully,
Beverly Hill
Crewe, VA USA
October-28-11
Mr McGuinty,
I would imagine that not talking to anyone, whether it is Michael Schmidt or someone else on a hunger strike, who says that they will end their strike if you talk with them….
And ….
if that individual dies as a result of your and/or your office’s inaction and refusal to have a dialogue…..
I would imagine that to be political suicide.
Imagine.
Where is the intelligence? Where is the compassion?
Is this Ontario leadership?
For the third time I petition you in writing….TALK!
Sincerely,
Shirley Ann Wood
The Bovine 