UPDATES ~ Prosecution of FRESH Milk Farmer in BC

The latest on the contempt of court - Alice Jongerden - Home On The Range  - with Bill Good on CKNW. http://www.corusradio.com/Shared/AudioVault/CKNWAMaudioVault.asp?VaultDate=20110125&VaultTime=11&mysubmit=Listen (just a few minutes into the programme). Listen to Alice, her lawyer, Gordon Watson, farmers, etc. The government spokesperson is very interesting... !@#$%^... scientific assumptions straight from the dark ages (editor's note). And see the Calendar of Events for the February 6th fundraising details, Vancouver, BC.

Previously article: Raw Milk Farmer Returns to Court With Constitutional Challenge, Sunday, January 24, 2011, by Randy Shore.
"Raw milk farmer Alice Jongerden on Thursday applied to the  Supreme Court of B.C. to set aside a 2010 court order that prohibits  her from producing and packaging unpasteurized dairy products.
"The court ruled last March 18 that raw milk is a health hazard,  upholding an injunction sought by the Fraser Health authority to  shut down the Home on the Range dairy in Chilliwack.
"Jongerden ran the dairy as a cow-share in which 400 members owned  shares in the farm's 22 cows and were entitled to the milk and other  foods produced by their animals.
Read the remainder at: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/milk+farmer+returns+court+with+constitutional+challenge/4154424/story.html#ixzz1C7VbRGET

From the Chilliwack Times, September 14, 2010: "Ontario dairy farmer Michael Schmidt has taken over Chilliwack's Home on the Range raw milk dairy so the flow of milk can continue to hundreds of members of the cow-share co-operative. Fraser Health has been trying to shut down Home on the Range for more than two years and on Tuesday succeeded in forcing the cowshare operator Alice Jongerden to officially resign as part of a court-ordered condition.

"Jongerden was in court in New Westminster Tuesday facing civil contempt of court charges brought by Fraser Health for continuing the milk production and distribution after being issued cease and desist orders.
She asked for an adjournment, something the judge agreed to under the condition that there would be no further production or distribution. She then stepped down and Schmidt told the Times Friday that cowshare members are on the farm to milk the cows.

"Alice is completely out now," he said over the phone from Ontario. "I'm at the moment basically managing it from here." Schmidt said he will essentially run the dairy from his farm in Durham, On. He plans to come out for a visit later in September for two days. Schmidt has been consulting and supporting Home on the Range for a number of years. Schmidt's own case made national and international headlines in January when he was acquitted of all 19 charges in Ontario court for doing essentially the same thing as Jongerden was doing in Chilliwack. "I was acquitted in exactly the same situation as Home on the Range," he said. "People own the cows and we had a private arrangement just like Home on the Range."

"The Ontario government is appealing the decision, but in the meantime Schmidt says the authorities are leaving his operation alone. When asked if he hoped Fraser Health would eventually respect the Ontario situation as some sort of precedent, Schmidt said: "One way or the other we'll get them."
"In a press release issued by Jongerden Friday morning, Schmidt says "We have reached the level of a new and powerful dictatorship called bureaucracy in the name of food safety, and in the favour of multinational corporations." He told the Times he has not taken over to pick a fight or make the situation worse for the Home on the Range cowshare owners, but to restructure the dairy so that it is legal.

exerpted from: Prominent Ontario raw milk advocate takes over Chilliwack dairy by Paul J. Henderson. Read more at: http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/news/Prominent+Ontario+milk+advocate+takes+over+Chilliwack+dairy/3541062/story.html#ixzz1028PrGt

and go to http://bovinity.freewebs.com and get Gordon Watson's opinion on recent and past events and for lots more details and a great little photo gallery and other locations for milk shares and where to purchase raw milk cheeses, oher raw milk dairies in Bc and over the border locations in the USA.

September 14th, 2010: "We had a very good showing of support today in New Westminster Lawcourts for Home On The Range Dairy, as Alice Jongerden faced a contempt of Court charge for "packaging and distributing raw milk for human consumption" contrary to a Court Order prohibiting such.

"Fifty or so people filled the public gallery to watch as Mister Justice Saunders presided over a minor masterpiece in how Justice is perverted whilst maintaining the appearance of civility. Very testily, he mis-stated the facts of the matter, barging-ahead, presuming things not in evidence, so Mrs Jongerden was railroaded before his noon lunch break. The Court granted the motion of Alice Jongerden for an adjournment of 30 days, on certain conditions. The net result is that the Fraser Health Authority got what it wantedie. putting her out of the business of providing agistment services to the cowshare owners/members. Mister Justice Saunders was diabolical... pretending to extend courtesy to the self-represented laywoman, Mrs Jongerden, meanwhile turning the screws and setting her up for much more grief.

Now we, the owners of the cows, have to decide what to do with our property. Looks like we'll be dumping some of the best food in the world ~ REAL MILK on the pasture. As painful as that is, at least we know that it's a fabulous fertilizer... it feeds the microbes in the soil so the grass grows better...
It's important for all-concerned to keep in mind the big picture ~ the health argument is only a red herrring. This controversy is not really about the risk of harm from drinking raw milk. It's about absolute control by the state of every aspect of an individual's life. Not just milk. Until one has suffered such a travesty personally, you have no idea how painful the perversion of common sense can be.

by Gordon S Watson, more at http://www.freewebs.com/bovinity

September 3rd, 2010: Four months after getting a Supreme Court Order that I "Cease and desist packaging and distributing raw milk for human consumption" officials from Fraser Health Authority (British Columbia, Canada) visited our farm to obtain evidence with which to charge me for breaching it. The trial for civil contempt of court is set for 10 am September 14th 2010 at the Law Courts in New Westminster. Guy McDannold of Staples McDannold Stewart will prosecute. File 124618 New West. Registry
The charge arises from the Public Health Act Transition Regulation section 7, which is officialdom's attempt to outlaw raw milk intended for human consumption on the basis that it's hazardous to the Public Health. We find it suspicious why this regulation took effect 2 years after I started caring for other people's cows, ie their PRIVATE property, with no good reasons other than to abuse the court process to shut down our private cowshare.

Part of Fraser Health's strategy was trying to convince the public that someone became ill from drinking milk from our dairy, even though there wasn't one. Fraser Health stooped so low as to tamper with the milk they sampled in order to fabricate results and mis-lead the public
into thinking our milk was bad. Ironically, even after they'd been instructed by Nick Losito, head of Vancouver Coastal Health how to take a proper sample, they disregarded the protocol spelled-out in the Milk Industry Act – WHY?
 
On July 9, 2010, Health Inspectors George Rice and Emily McGuire entered the property, walking past several sharemembers working at the farm and past the 'Private Property - No Trespassing' sign. They entered in order to determine if a health hazard was happening but without the requisite warrant to search.  They took a picture of a jar of milk labelled 'Not for Human Consumption' and 'NOT FOR SALE', as well as a picture of a sign on the fridge outlining to all members of the cowshare why their property ie. our milk, is not for human consumption. 
 
Inspector Rice asked if I was aware of the order and I told him that I was not only aware of it, but obeyed it in its entirety. I will be representing myself in the trial and will be supported by many people outside the Court.  

by Alice Jongerden at http://www.homeontherangefarms.com

see also: http://thebovine.wordpress.com/

more raw milk articles at:
Raw Milk Supply - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/159
National Raw Dairy Association? / On the Legal Front / Business Under Siege / Sharon Palmer / Aajonus Vonderplanitz - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/1299
RAW MILK - Michael Schmidt Wins in Ontario; in BC the Fight Has Just Begun - Update - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/1212
Drugged Milk is Dangerous - Corporate Manipulation - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/999
U~moo's classes in Vermont & Beyond Milk Politics: Raw Dairy "Pet Food" - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/942
Raw Milk Stories - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/930
Raw Milk Intolerance Continues Unabated in Ontario - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/906
Raw Milk  Cow-ops Still Under the Gun - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/897
RAW versus PASTEURIZED MILK - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/158
A Raw Milk Story With an Almost Happy Ending - http://www.thehealingjournal.com/node/1211