A vote for choice! The Micheal Schmidt verdict.

A friend of mine who sharemilks with an affiliate of Micheal Schmidts and I, attended the verdict.  The courtroom was filled to capacity with standing room only and another 200 people outside waiting.  The people in attendance were of all ages and walks of life.  They were not there just for the cause of milk but for the right to choose.  The right for small farmers to attempt to make a living and to show support for a farmer who has been wrongfully hounded by our government since 1994 for his attempts to support his family and keep his farm.  Throughout the almost 3 hour verdict of His Worship P. Kowarsky my emotions ran the gauntlet.  From despair to happiness to fear and of course after he was acquitted of all charges elation!  People stood clapping and cheering.  Someone opened the door and let the verdict be known to the spectators outside the courtroom and a deafening roar was heard out there.

In the end, the judge determined that cow shares are outside regulatory oversight based on the following:

• That legislation is subject to a "dynamic" based on cultural, social, and historical factors. In other words, raw milk doesn't pose the same dangers it might have been seen to pose in the 1930s, when much of Ontario's dairy legislation was passed.
• That Michael Schmidt wasn't "marketing" the cow shares. "There was no advertising and sale (of raw milk) to the general public...Cow shares are a legitimate private enterprise that does not constitute marketing in Ontario."
• Perhaps most intriguing, that "the people who are permitted to buy the milk are fully informed" via a special booklet, identification cards, regular newsletters, and other steps Michael Schmidt took on behalf of his members.  "There is no evidence of any illness" in all the years Michael Schmidt has been distributing raw milk, he observed, and tests by the regulatory authorities never found any evidence of pathogens.

A great day for Canada!

People had kept their children out of school to attend this monumental day.  They held placards attesting to the deliciousness of raw milk.  I overheard an older couple telling a reporter "I am not a milk sharer, I am a farmer.  This is about farmers and thats what we came to support."  There was a lot of support from the landowners association too showing that there was more to the case than having the right to herd share.

People drank raw milk outside the courtroom as press interviewed people from all walks of life.

The rally afterwards was charged with excitement and many American crusaders took the podium. David Gumpert author of The Raw Milk Revolution spoke as well as another notable American raw milk "celebrity"  Tim Wightman of the Farm-to-Consumer Foundation.

It was an exciting day for farmers all over Canada and the USA. 

This is me with Micheal after the verdict.  Thanks Micheal for what you have done for us. (Small farmers)

For those interested in reading the verdict exactly as presented click this link:  http://www.foodrightsalliance.ca/regina_v_schmidt.pdf