GOOD NEWS IN OHIO
Some of the best news we’ve heard in a long time helps us close out the year in an upbeat mood. On Friday, December 29, Judge Jonathan Hein of the Common Pleas Court of Darke County overturned the state Department of Agriculture’s decision to revoke the grade A license of Carol Schmitmeyer. Hein ordered the department not to take further enforcement action against Schmitmeyer. Her dairy farm may resume providing raw milk to shareholders in 30 days if the Agriculture Department doesn’t appeal the ruling.
An appeal is unlikely given the new administration’s more favorable attitude towards small farms and the strong wording of the opinion. “The Department. . . argues that the ‘herd share agreement’ is a transparent attempt to circumvent the law. If the herd share agreement is a circumvention of the law, so is the Department’s inexact practice of allowing owners and their families, etc. to consume raw milk.”
For details, see David Gumpert’s write up at www.thecompletepatient.com. Many thanks to Gary Cox, Esq., of the Columbus, Ohio firm Lane, Alton & Horst, who represented Carol. The favorable decision clears the way for herd share agreements not only in Ohio, but in other states and makes liberalizing raw milk legislation more likely.
GOOD NEWS IN CANADA ALSO
Yesterday I spoke to Michael Schmidt, who is very optimistic about their situation in Canada. Last week he went off his hunger strike at the behest of consumers concerned about losing his leadership. Schmidt turned this into a media opportunity by ending his strike in front of television cameras and surrounded by some of Canada’s most prominent chefs.
So far his supporters have raised over $50,000 for legal expenses and he is now represented by some of the top legal minds in Canada. The government is actually avoiding charging Michael with the sale of raw milk, a charge that would bring up constitutional issues and would likely result in a ruling favorable to raw milk as a basic human right.
Most heartening of all has been the huge outpouring of support from all over Canada. Michael has agreed to be our keynote speaker at Wise Traditions 2007 — let’s all visualizing his using that forum to announce a complete victory for raw milk in Canada.
CONFERENCE TAPES AND DVD’S
Recordings of all the speakers at Wise Traditions 2006 in CD, DVD and MP3 format are now available at very reasonable prices. Go to westonaprice.org and click on the link to the order form, which is posted on the splash page.
UPCOMING SEMINARS
Dubuque, Iowa, January 19-20: Seminar on Traditional Diets and The Oiling of America. Contact Jim Earles at yogaspectrum (at) yahoo.com .
Ann Arbor, Michigan, February 2-4: The Fourfold Path to Healing Conference, a full weekend with all three authors of The Fourfold Path to Healing, myself, Tom Cowan and Jaimen McMillan. Contact (240) 279-7072, misty (at) ptfassociates.com . For details visit www.fourfoldhealing.com/conference.htm.
PEACE ON EARTH
As we close out the year, many thoughts are concentrated on achieving peace for human societies. It occurs to me that peace must begin with our animals, living at peace on farms where they are loved and respected for their service to mankind, not suffering in factories as units of production for industrial agriculture. Only when our animals live in peace and harmony with nature will the humans who depend on them achieve peace in their own lives. By supporting farms that respect our sacred animals, we can contribute to lasting peace on earth for all mankind.
The staff and board of directors of the Weston A. Price Foundation join me in wishing all of you a healthy, happy, prosperous and peaceful new year.
Sincerely,
Sally Fallon, President
The Weston A. Price Foundation
Leave a Reply