Canadian Farmer Michael Schmidt Fights for Agricultural Freedom
In 2017, Canadian authorities arrested farmer Michael Schmidt for providing raw milk to over 120 owners of Glencolton Farms. What was his crime? Well, Schmidt dared to provide raw milk to the actual owners of the farm that produced the raw milk!
Now the Canadian police are harassing him again. Bravo Mr. Schmidt for standing your ground.
On October 28, 2021, Schmidt posted an open letter on Face Book detailing how he was recently terrorized by Canadian authorities over his raw milk business. Schmidt writes,
Dear West Grey Police Chief Robert Martin
Last Tuesday October 27th you dispatched at least 5 police cruisers and about 9 officers “to assist” a retired Hamilton cop and now “double dipping” Agricultural investigator with the name Glen Jarvie and his 8 support staff. At 5 am you participated and supported how our farm was once again raided. You did NOT come as peace officers.
This is the fourth time that your police force willingly became complicit in the unreasonable enforcement of regulatory policies to protect those who are completely obsessed to interfere in our peaceful food production for our members.
Your motto is to be a ” Community Partner” with a mandate to protect and serve our community. However, it appears that you rather protect and serve out of control bureaucrats, like Glen Jarvie, who’s agenda appears to be to make life hell for small farms which are trying to feed people in need.
Where is your integrity in standing tall for justice instead falling for cheap enforcement gigs for the Government, which has nothing to do with safety or criminal activities.
You always have a choice to say NO to these cowards. They have their own guns. And if there is a conflict they still can phone 911 for back-up. But to witness over and over again your willingness to actively support actions against our community is a disgrace to say the least. There are real criminals out there who are endangering our community which should be your focus. We the community are spending millions of dollars for police services and you wasting 9 or 10 officers on a raid which has nothing to do with your mandate.
How can we have an open and personal dialogue when you then turn around and blindly dispatch officers into your community to help those who in fact attack and harass our community. Shame on you for your lack of courage to stand on principles. -Michael Schmidt
According to Schmidt, he has suffered four raids by the authorities in 27 years. Yet, his pursuit of liberty and agricultural freedom persists. His tenacity is impressive, and based on his community support, his resistance highlights the effectiveness of civil disobedience. This is something to consider in the age of Covid tyranny. Governments must not be allowed to dictate what we can or must put in our bodies!
If you are a US farmer or consumer who has been suffering similar harassment, you might check out the Farm-To-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF). The FTCLDF’s stated mission is to protect, defend, and broaden the rights and viability of independent farmers, artisanal food producers, and their consumers. They also have some excellent information on the legal status of raw milk broken down by each state.