The Complete Patient

I was looking forward to recollecting my own bucolic raw milk experience this weekend. How I stopped in at the On the River Farm alongside the Connecticut River in Lyme, NH, picked up my raw milk, and had a long and enjoyable chat with owner Kathy Barrett about the special attributes of Guernsey milk--the richness, and slightly yellow color of the cream because the cows can't assimilate beta carotene. How pleasant it was to just think and talk about the milk and its nutritional benefits.

But then reality intervened. Reality in the form of a raid on a raw milk farm outside Toronto, and the decision of its owner to stage a hunger strike in protest. Katherine Czapp in her comment on my previous post has provided links to a local newspaper article about the raid and to a background piece from the Weston A. Price Foundation about Michael Schmidt, the Canadian dairy farmer. There is more information about the situation from a local radio station's report.

I suppose it's not surprising that Canadian authorities should imitate their neighbors to the south. We like to think of Canada as a more open and thoughtful society than ours, but when it comes to economics, the Canadians tend to play follow-the-leader. Yet the raw milk wars are as much about politics as they are about economics. Hunger strikes are something of the ultimate political statement. They tell us the aggrieved are out of options, but feel so strongly about an issue that they are willing to sacrifice their health and, ultimately, their lives.

The frequency and intensity of the various raids--in California, Michigan, Ohio, and now in Canada--can only be meant to carry a political message. The message is simple: We, the authorities, know demand is growing for raw milk, and we can't change that, so we'll intimidate consumers. Intimidation is a common enforcement tactic. Come down hard on a few public examples, and hope the great mass of people get the message and change their habits out of fear.

The best counter to these tactics is to do the exact opposite of what the authorities want. It's up to consumers to vote with their feet--to show such overwhelming support for beleagured farmers that the authorities have no choice but to accept reality. The Ohio and Kentucky members of the Double O Farms cowshare program did that by coming to the rescue of farm owner Gary Oaks, even though many felt intimidated, and still feel intimidated. But those are the only actions the authorities take seriously.