Dairy farmer fighting for freedom of choice

Dairy farmer and raw milk advocate Michael Schmidt is on day 19 of a hunger strike to legalize the sale of raw milk, and today he delivered a letter to premier-elect Dalton McGuinty.

In it Schmidt says the government insists that only corporate Canada can be responsible for feeding Canadians, and he says he wants to meet with the premier to find a way to ensure that citizens can choose what they eat.

In Canada, it’s illegal to advertise, distribute and deliver un-pasteurized milk or cream.

Schmidt began his hunger strike after a court found him guilty of charges under the province’s Health Protection and Promotion Act, and the Milk Act.

“People ask me, ‘why are you doing that?’ And I say I come from Germany and I have seen the aftermath of a situation where people don’t rise up.”

“This is more serious than people think. Freedom of choice, that is the issue here.”

Health Canada says the number of food-borne illness outbreaks from milk has dramatically decreased since pasteurization was made mandatory 20 years ago. But Schmidt says the large industrial companies are the problem when it comes to un-pasteurized milk.