A Call to Humanity for Food Freedom Action – Keep These Peaceful Farmers Out of Prison!
A Natural Blaze exclusive interview With Michael Schmidt about serious charges instigated on him and Montana Jones by the Canadian government and what we can do to keep food freedom for posterity – and keep our humanity.
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Canadian raw dairy farmer and activist Michael Schmidt is no stranger to government harassment. He’s been in government sights for at least 21 years while allowing others to be co-owners of the farm and partake the raw milk which is illegal to sell in Canada. As in the U.S., the government tries to twist the small farm into a commercial establishment and pretend to be protecting public safety, whereas the private owners have gone out of their way to seek healing foods. Michael has endured almost five raids, multiple arrests and is now facing multiple court hearings which carry the threat of imprisonment.
Among them, he and shepherdess Montana Jones are facing serious charges stemming from a mysterious “disappearing sheep” incident in 2012. The government ordered Montana’s heritage breed Shropshire sheep to be destroyed saying they were sick with scrapie but Montana claimed they were healthy and had them tested. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered them killed without proving they were actually sick – they would kill the sheep to prove their health, they said.
The morning of the planned executions, the sheep were gone with nothing but a note on the barn door explaining that they had been taken into “protective custody” until the CFIA could resolve their instigation without destroying Montana’s sheep – and her farm. The CFIA spared no expense of the Canadian people in hunting them down, even using helicopters. They spotted the flock and killed them. At a later time, Montana was forced to bear a raid during which the agents gruesomely killed her pregnant ewes. None of this action was necessary as the original “threat” was from years prior – it was simply destructive. Both farmers were peaceful parties during government destruction of Montana’s sheep – yet they are the ones facing possible prison time.
Incredibly, there is a charge for conspiracy against the government – as you can imagine, that is a very serious charge carrying significant prison time. Up to 12 years and up to $1.5 million in fines to be exact! December 6th was the three-year anniversary of the charges, and many think that the government is purposely dragging out the case to drain them of resources. They even figured out a way to knock the defense attorney out of the case, if you read the background of it. It wouldn’t be the first time using this modus operandi, and another perceived benefit to prosecutors is the idea that people will forget. Not this time – the legal crowdfund continues to gain worldwide exposure.
You may recall the recent raids at Glencolton farm regarding raw milk, where during the second raid, people banded together to prevent everything of Michael’s from being confiscated permanently by agents, including his personal computer. The story swelled hearts, but unfortunately the victory was short lived. Five people, clearly pre-hand-picked for their outspokenness, were charged. But it get worse…
Previously, there was a discovery at Glencolton involving hidden spy cameras on the property taking pictures of people going in and out of the farm. Michael and others went to the police and were ordered to give up the devices
without a word. There were approximately 80,000 images found in each camera. It is thought that the cameras belong to another. As creepy as that sounds – he was the one accused of theft! He spent a night in jail, and it’s not over yet.
The above interview holds incredible information where Michael cultivates the roots of freedom and food rights as well as the secret to standing up to corruption and the attempt to stamp out the essence of humanity like never before. It’s much better if you hear him describe where he draws his power – you may never have anything to fear again when it comes to going on the offensive to protect your rights for posterity’s sake. There is still so much hope with the growing support and Michael’s powerful example. Recently, he and supporters turned heads with a written declaration of food rights on a food truck outside of Parliament and discussion with Parliament members.
Please – if there’s anything more for you to give this Christmas, let it be to somehow help defend him and Montana Jones and keep them out of prison. Please share any articles you find about them. As we say in the talk above, the powers that be will not stop – they simply will not leave what few, real food farmers we have left… 21 years of such incredible tactics have proven just that.
The farmers are peacefully feeding their community life-giving foods – they cannot continue to do so while in prison and hundreds of people will have no real food recourse.
Legal Crowd-Fundraiser set up by Canadian Constitution Foundation litigation director Karen Selick (they will need more support than what was raised because of the onslaught of new litigation and the government dragging out the court cases):
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-defend-farmers-charged-in-rare-sheep-case#/
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Top image credit: YouTube Screenshot
Here is a rousing press conference with Michael, if you’d like to hear more.
This article (A Call to Humanity for Food Freedom Action – Keep These Peaceful Farmers Out of Prison! ) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Heather Callaghan and Natural Blaze.com.
Heather Callaghan is an independent researcher, natural health blogger and food freedom activist. You can see her work at NaturalBlaze.com. Like at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
