An Ontario farm advocate has called on Albertans to fight for their right to drink raw milk.
Ontario dairy farmer Michael Schmidt spoke to about 20 supporters Monday at the Alberta Legislature about the legalization of raw milk sales in Alberta. Schmidt won a 16-year legal battle this January to sell raw, unpasteurized milk to people through a cow-share operation.
Schmidt was invited to Alberta to speak after Alberta Agriculture seized raw milk from the van of Judith Johnson, who co-owns a cow-share operation near Wildwood, 120 kilometres west of Edmonton.
It is illegal in Canada to sell, transport or distribute unpasteurized milk except to a licensed processor, according to Alberta Agriculture. But it is legal to drink if it's from a cow you own. Schmidt has been leading legal battles in several provinces to remove this ban.
Produced properly, raw milk is perfectly safe, said Schmidt, who drank a glass of it to demonstrate. He blamed the province's opposition to the drink on a centralized agricultural system opposed to local food production.
"We reject the assault on small farmers under the pretext of food safety threats," he said. "We reject the criminalization of those who make informed decisions."
He called on residents to lobby for the product's legalization. "Since it's been deemed legal in Ontario, there's no reason why other provinces could not follow."
The war over milk
Raw milk is something of a flashpoint in the local food movement. Its supporters say it is more nutritious than pasteurized (heat-treated) milk and gives farmers a way to connect directly with customers. Opponents cite it as an unacceptable health risk.
Advocates have gotten around sales bans through cow-share arrangements, where they buy part-ownership in a cow and get some of its milk in exchange. There are about 15 such arrangements in Alberta Schmidt said, many of them secret.
Johnson's operation involved two cows and about 20 members, she said. She alleged that three men from Alberta Health and Alberta Agriculture confronted her on Oct. 26 while she was transporting raw milk in her vehicle.
In what she described as an assault, she said the agents told her it was illegal to transport raw milk and prevented her from driving away or closing her door. "I'm telling him don't touch me, get your hands off me."
Police were called in and the officer ordered her to hand over the milk, which she did.
Alberta Health officials have now threatened to have her declared a public nuisance, she alleged. "This has nothing to do with the public," she said. "People come to me … and it's their private right to choose what they put in their bodies."
Safe or not?
Raw milk contains many proteins and enzymes that aid in digestion, said Behrooz Tahririha of St. Albert's Family Herbal Clinic, which makes it more nutritious than pasteurized milk. "This is what all of us, people and animals, are brought up on."
Edmonton physiotherapist Gay Edmonds-Lang credits raw milk and other unprocessed foods for curing her intractable nerve, muscle and joint problems. "This has made more difference than dozens of other approaches I've tried," she said.
Raw milk can contain E. coli and salmonella, said Karlee Stevens of Alberta Milk, and can cause food poisoning if consumed. "Why take a risk with people's health if you can avoid it?"
Farmers can drink milk from their own cows because they know those cows have been raised in a safe way, said Jay Adams, a member of Alberta Agriculture's regulatory services division. City residents don't have that reassurance. "The risk involved is too great."
Dairy farmers with inspected, sanitary operations should be allowed to sell raw milk, said Sturgeon County farmer Jenny Bocock, noting that her husband John's family drank and sold it for decades before it was banned. "I think we should be given the freedom to choose."
