An eastern Ontario dairy farmer has received a cease-and-desist order from the province's milk marketing board after selling shares of her cows to consumers who want raw milk.

'Cow rental or share ownership scams don't make raw milk consumption legal in Ontario.... As soon as milk moves off the premises, it has to be within the auspices of the Milk Act.'-Bill Mitchell, Dairy Farmers of Ontario

Jacqueline Fennell, who runs Conavista Farm near Spencerville, Ont., about 55 kilometres south of Ottawa, said she received an order Friday from the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, highlighting the sections of the Ontario Milk Act that she would allegedly violate by providing unpasteurized milk. 

About 15 people have bought shares in her cows so they can drink the animals' raw milk, which some people say tastes better and is healthier than pasteurized milk, but which cannot be legally sold in Ontario.

Farmers are allowed to consume milk from their own cows, and Fennell argues that allowance can be extended to all cow "owners."

But Bill Mitchell, a spokesman for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, said her shareholder scheme flouts a law designed to protect food safety, and which bans not just the sale of raw milk, but also its distribution and delivery.

"Cow rental or share ownership scams don't make raw milk consumption legal in Ontario," he said. "As soon as milk moves off the premises, it has to be within the auspices of the Milk Act."

He added that even farmers cannot take raw milk off their properties because it is considered unsafe.

"It is the health issue that's our primary motivation here."

But Fennell said she doesn't buy that argument, as farm families have been drinking milk raw for generations, including her husband's family, which has run Conavista for more than a century.

'I don't want to be forced to be part of that system.'—Dairy farmer Jacqueline Fennell

"Now we're offering a product to people [other than farmers] that they otherwise couldn't get," said Fennell, who is also president of the Leeds and Grenville Landowners Association, noting she thinks farmers should be able to earn money from their property as they choose.

She said going through the dairy marketing board system to sell milk from her 25 cows would cost her $1 million.

"I don't want to be forced to be part of that system."

The health unit for the county of Leeds and Grenville, where Fennell's farm is located has asked its lawyers to investigate the law so they know how to proceed once the milk actually starts changing hands, a spokesperson said.

Raw milk legalization bill defeated in December

Issues around raw milk gained a high profile late last year after a raid on the southwestern Ontario farm of Michael Schmidt.

Schmidt, who runs a cow-sharing raw milk operation near Durham, Ont., had his equipment seized on Nov. 21 and was charged with operating a milk plant without a licence.

A number of prominent supporters including celebrity chef Jamie Kennedy and Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara spoke out on Schmidt's behalf during his month-long hunger-strike protest.

A private member's resolution to create an all-party task force to examine the issues surrounding raw milk was debated but not passed in the Ontario legislature Dec. 7.