Do Michael Schmidt's cows 'produce wonderful abstract-expressionist paintings in their off hours'

Posted: October 21st, 2008 - 10:01pm by Doug Powell

The Owen Sound Sun Times has had enough of raw milk evangelist Michael Schmidt.

The Ontario paper  correctly observes that the Ontario government does not have the capacity to ensure that unpasteurized milk is safe to distribute and Michael Schmidt does not have the right to pick and choose which laws he wishes to obey.

Schmidt's raw-milk operation may be the most sparkling-clean in all of Ontario. His methods of storage and transport may be beyond reproach. His milk cows may be grass-fed, free-range, pest-free and of above average intelligence. For all we know they may produce wonderful abstract-expressionist paintings in their off hours.

That does not change the fact that drinking raw milk brings with it a heightened risk of salmonella, E. coli and Listeriosis. Nor does it change the fact that pasteurization saves lives.

Anyone who doesn't believe this should ask someone old enough to remember the days before pasteurization was introduced.

If selling raw milk were legal, it would in short order become a big business. The Ontario government, knowing the statistical risks of raw-milk distribution, would be legally and morally responsible for ensuring that no one got sick as a result.

That is a chance no responsible, reasonable government can or will take.

Therefore, Schmidt's crusade will fail. It should fail.

One man, however impassioned, cannot set health policy for all Ontarians, in the face of medical evidence that doing so would put people at risk.
 

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Categories: Raw Food
Tags: Michael Schmidt, Ontario, Raw Milk Cheese

Comments

amanda says:

This looks more like an attack on small farms and government trying to control everything than concern for people's well being.Why is it wrong for people to want to drink fresh, raw milk? In America, in the states where raw milk is legal, the cows and equipment are tested regularly for pathogens. So, I don't really understand how the Ontario government could say a thing like that...The reason the pasteurization process began is because the dairies were filthy and the cows weren't fed the food they were meant to eat. It's ironic; that's how the cows in most mega-dairies are kept today. They are cramped in small pens with other cows. The fact that the cows are treated with antibiotics to fight off disease should indicate something is wrong. Cows are meant to graze free-range on grass (not grain), their natural diet.If cows are kept in a healthy environment (not confined in pens), fed the food they are supposed to eat and are tested routinely, I see no reason for pasteurization. Remember, people had been drinking raw milk for many, many, many years before the process was put into effect. It's only raw milk from cows that are kept in unsanitary conditions people should worry about.

Posted on October 23rd, 2008 - 2:21pm

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