From David E. Gumpert, on The Complete Patient blog:
Michael Schmidt at Weston A. Price Conference. Photo via The Complete Patient blog.
“Ontario dairy farmer Michael Schmidt ended his hunger strike more than a week ago, but he just ate his first solid food yesterday, at the banquet dinner of the Weston A. Price Foundation’s Wise Traditions Conference in Dallas.
He didn’t partake in the sable, pot roast, vegetables and poached pears with carob sauce gobbled up by the 1,300 conference participants. After a week of just sipping on vegetable broth because he had no appetite, Schmidt finally felt well enough to have some raw steak and butter—suggested fare from several medical practitioners who have been consulting with Schmidt on getting back into a regular eating routine.
“I didn’t feel like eating food,” he told me this morning. “Last night at the banquet was the first time I began to feel like eating.”
The practitioners advising him were concerned the vegetable broth might be depleting his body even more than not eating. “It was now approaching the seventh week” without food, he explained. “I didn’t realize how much you push your body into a real stress situation. There is a tipping point if you don’t deal with it.”
The food he had last evening agreed with him, and he said he felt stronger. “It seems as if I am at a good point.”
Schmidt said he is also convinced his meeting with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty occurred primarily because of the special efforts of several raw milk mothers in Ontario. He’s heard from several mothers who said they had emotional conversations with McGuinty’s staff members, imploring the political leader to meet with Schmidt. “The biggest influence came from mothers who phoned his office and started crying to the staff people” about the possibility of losing both Schmidt and their raw milk. “The staff people couldn’t take the pressure any more” and implored their boss to grant Schmidt an audience….”
The Bovine 
Kudos to the unnamed “Raw Milk Mothers ” . Finally emotion and love wins over cold-blooded rationality !
Proud to be a raw milk mommy, calling McGuinty was the least we could do. Now who do we call next to get the discussion happening and some changes! I am not ready to give up my children’s milk!
How about calling Judge Tetley before the sentencing ?
That is a good idea. I was also talking about contacting MP’s and MPP’s. Just to clarify…I’m not trying to take credit for anything or pat myself on the back. The 4800 people on Facebook come from all walks of life and we should all be proud of the efforts we made!! WE stood up for Michael and what we believe. I was just happy that everyone’s efforts were rewarded and that I could be a part of it. I called McGuinty’s office many times…as many of us did, asking for McGuinty to give Michael the simple courtesy of a meeting to end his hunger strike and halt the damage to his body, let alone save his life. Towards the end my pleas became more impassioned and more personal as I began to tell the story of how Micheal’s generosity helped my family, when it seemed nothing and no one else was able to. Sometimes it is hard to tell a stranger such personal stories but when we do I think we open them up to the personal side of this struggle, which can really help change peoples minds. I think the moral here is that we change minds one person at a time, and our personal stories can be powerful.
It was so awesome to hear the applause at the banquet when Sally announced that Michael had eaten his first meal with us! I hope that more positive changes are on the way for Raw Milk!
Raw Milk Mamas RULE
I would also add that in 2009, the Dalai Lama proclaimed at a Peace Summit in Vancouver that “The world will be saved by the Western Woman.”
***Schmidt said he is also convinced his meeting with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty occurred primarily because of the special efforts of several raw milk mothers in Ontario****
4800 on the Support Michael Schmidt Facebook page, I didn’t realize they were primarily all raw milk moms….way to go raw milk moms!
Just as the cow generously shares its milk with its calf and the human family at large, this raw milk mooooovement is one of generosity. We can’t honour and celebrate all 4800 or more supporters all at the same time here so there is nothing wrong with providing inspirational case studies of how the many different activists made a difference . For anybody who is sincerely ready and available to “do the work” of transformation i have always found Michael Schmidt to be very generous about sharing the podium and giving credit where credit is due ! Believe me he has more than enough work to do as it is so the more the merrier !
This is what all of us are going to have to do in order to get ANYTHING done!! A friend of mine just lost her son to suicide because Dr.s refused to listen to him and help him get well. In his desperation and pleas they refused to listen. This took a little over a year to take place in the US! And these were Dr’s not politicians!! THANK the GOOD LORD these people listened!! Get ready people, we ALL have to FIGHT for our childrens health!!
WE HAVE GOT TO GIVE MORE POWER TO THE MOTHERS OF THIS WORLD !