In case anybody thought "Cow Share Agreements: Fooling Nobody" and "Raw Milk: An Issue of Safety or Freedom" were nothing more than articles written by a lawyer with an axe to grind, a British Columbia Supreme Court apparently agrees with me. The Court recently ruled that a Chiliwack purveyor of raw milk who sold the product through a cow share agreement, and even labeled it as "not for human consumption," was violating a law that prohibited the sale of raw milk. Good job to this court for enforcing the law as written.
The Fraser Health Authority obtained a permanent injunction against Home on the Range Farms owner Alice Jongerden in March, ordering her to stop packaging and distributing raw milk for the members of her Chilliwack cow-share operation. Jongerden distributed her raw dairy products, including cream, yogurt and milk, to members through various depots in Metro Vancouver.
Health officials pressed the matter in July, saying Jongerden was still packaging the products for her customers but sidestepping the order by labelling the product "not for human consumption."
In a B.C. Supreme Court decision, Justice Nathan Smith said Jongerden flouted health regulations and was aware that some of her cow share members would drink the raw milk.
"The notice she posted on her refrigerators in fact invites them to use the product ‘as you please,’ he wrote.
"To authorize recipients of a product to continue to use it as they see fit when there is a history of that product being used in a certain (now prohibited) manner is equivalent to knowing and intending that usage will continue.