VICTORIA – Alice Jongerden hasn’t quit milking and distributing milk from a 21-cow herd even after a B.C. Supreme Court decision in March ordered her Home on the Range farm to halt distribution of raw milk intended for human consumption.
Raw milk is a health hazard, wrote B.C Supreme Court justice Miriam Gropper. When coupled with B.C.’s Public Health Act, which “prohibits a person from willingly causing a health hazard,” it’s clear that the farm is ignoring the court’s decision with ongoing distribution, said provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall.
Read Also
First annual Ag in Motion Junior Cattle Show kicks off with a bang
Ag in Motion 2025 had its first annual junior cattle show on July 15. The show hosted more than 20…
Jongerden, paid by almost 400 individuals and families to manage and milk animals in a cow-share program on her dairy near Chilliwack, said she is operating within the law and following the order. Home on the Range cows produce about 340 litres of milk per day.
When people pick up their milk, costing $17.50 per week for a gallon or $9.50 for half a gallon, she gives them a letter outlining that the Fraser Health Authority deems raw milk a health hazard.
Each jar of milk also bears the label, “not for human consumption.”
“The order is that we have to cease and desist distributing raw milk for human consumption, so I have informed them that it is not for human consumption. But ultimately it’s their private property. What they do with it is entirely up to them,” said Jongerden.
Kendall isn’t certain what the health ministry will do next.
In a similar case in January, an Ontario court found dairy farmer Michael Schmidt not guilty of 19 charges related to distribution of unpasteurized milk.
Schmidt argued that he was operating a cow share where he distributed the milk privately instead of to the public-at-large.
Jongerden is preparing to appeal last month’s court decision.
