Eldon Dahl v. Health Canada, Bill C-6

Click on image to go to YouTube and watch video report from Jan. 2009

Dr. Eldon Dahl is a naturopathic doctor whose home was raided by the RCMP and Health Canada about a year ago. From his description below it sounds as if what happened at his home was very much like what happened at the Manna Storehouse Coop in Ohio last December, and, for that matter, at Michael Schmidt’s Glencolton Farms 3 years ago. In his case however, it seems to have been about vitamins that someone, apparently, didn’t want him to have. The video above and those linked to mid-way down the letter were made in January 2009. The letter that follows was written recently and was addressed to members of Canada’s Senate, which, as far as we know, is still contemplating the passage of Bill C-6. Thanks to Gordon Watson for passing this news item on to the Bovine. It’s hard to know what to make of raids like this, whether to take them at face value, or to read into them an attempt to cow others and spread fear of the government.

Michael Schmidt’s Nov. 17, ‘09 Queen’s Park press conference statement

Raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt with lawyer Karen Selick of the Canadian Constitution Foundation at recent Queen's Park press conference Nov. 17, 2009. Media, MPPs and supporters were in attendance.

November 21, 2009 is the 3rd anniversary of the armed raid on Glencolton Farms to shut down a successful legitimate local food operation, which provided amongst many other products fresh raw milk to its members.

I am here at Queens Park today for the 5th time to update the Premier his Ministers the MPP’s and the press about the current status in relation to the raw milk issue.

Canada and Ontario has a special significance in this world wide battle for food rights because of its total prohibition to sell or distribute milk which is not pasteurized.

It is crucial to take notice that there is no ban to consume raw milk.

In the last three years our battle here in Ontario gained world wide attention partially due to the reputation that Canada still claims to be the best and freest country in the world.

Vegetarian mythologies

Here’s a fascinating excerpt from a review on Marjorie Tietjen’s “Lyme Disease Sentinel blog” of Lierre Keith’s book “The Vegetarian Myth”:

Enduring controversy over vegetarian diets.

The author practiced a vegan lifestyle for approximately 20 years and she strongly feels that her health was destroyed by her total avoidance of all animal products. Her declining health and her aching desire to follow the ways of nature in a humane fashion motivated her to conduct further research and to write this groundbreaking book. She had tried desperately to be vegan and organic, hoping not to have to take life in order to preserve her own. However the more frantically she tried, the sicker she became and the more she realized that in order for something to live, it has to take the life of another….whether directly or indirectly. Keith softens this hard fact a bit by saying that we all take turns giving our life for the benefit of other life. While the reader might not agree with everything Keith has to say, this book is a compelling read and provides much food for thought for vegetarians, vegans and omnivores.

How far can we trust corporate science?

One of the sticking points in helping people wake up to the realities around them is the apparent collusion of many scientists and governments with corporate anti-human agendas. Dr. Mercola has kindly put together a couple of examples of this species of science in the report this is excerpted from. He titles his story: “Can you really trust Monsanto — how they corrupted science”.

Man at the centre of the controversy -- was he right, or "politically incorrect"? Or both?

“… Dr. Arpad Pusztai was considered the world expert on GM foods with more than 270 published studies relating to the subject. He was working at the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland, when he was interviewed for a World in Action television documentary on August 10, 1998. What he said was to destroy his career because of the reaction of Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, puppets of Monsanto and the biotech industry.

Dr. Pusztai told the program that rats fed on certain GM potatoes had suffered stunted growth, damage to the immune system, and their liver, heart and other organs got smaller. He later said this was also the case with the brain, but he had not mentioned that in the TV interview to avoid being ”alarmist.” However, he did say this of GM food: “If I had the choice, I would certainly not eat it.”

On the evening the interview was broadcast, Dr. Pusztai was congratulated for his contribution by Professor Philip James, director of the Rowett Institute. The next morning, the institute issued a press release highlighting that a ”range of carefully controlled studies underlie the basis of Dr. Pusztai’s concerns.”

Cow shares available in Lafayette, LA

This just in from the “Living in the land of milk and honey” blog:

“Buy a cow – Buy half a cow- Buy a head of a cow or a quarter. I don’t mind, just buy a cow. I will care for her here if you don’t have the room. I will groom her, milk her, and just love her up for you. We are pasture – based and feed NO corn or soy. We feed grass hay and alfala hay. We milk by hand and store in glass jars. Email me for details: ttaylor1967@cox.net for the details.

Here are the cows we have for sale:

A pretty nice A2 cow -- that gives milk that's not like what you get at the store.

Here is Momma Cow. She is available for cow shares only.  She is a Jersey/ Guernsey cross. She is 7 years old and has had 4 calves. She is open and in milk, giving 3 gallons a day. I will be breeding her in May or June of 2010 for a spring 2011 calf.  She is easily re-bred and takes on the first breeding. She calves easily and is a good momma cow. She has been tested and has the A2 milk gene.This simply means her milk is easily digestible….”

Get the whole story from the land of milk and honey blog.

Understanding opposition to raw milk

This is excerpted from Kimberly Hartke’s fine blog:

Speaker and author David E. Gumpert, at WAPF conference. Photo: Anne-Marie Michaels of the "Cheeselave" blog

“The keynote speaker at the recent International Wise Traditions 2009 Conference, held in the outskirts of Chicago, Illinois, was David Gumpert, journalist and creator of The Complete Patient blog.

David writes for Business Week, major daily newspapers and is an award winning author. His brand new book, Raw Milk Revolution—the Emerging Battle over America’s Food Rights was the topic of his address to 1300 attendees of the conference. He travels the country interviewing regulators, farmers and raw milk aficionados, and has spent the last year of his life writing this book.

He soberly told us that all the farms that the work of Sally Fallon Morell and her Weston A. Price Foundation members have saved, are now under attack.

What follows is his speech [my comments in brackets]:

Slagging Dairy Supply Management

In the opinion piece from the National Post excerpted below, Terrence Corcoran implies that consumers are being shafted by the government intransigence in continuing to support supply management — i.e. the quota system for milk production — in the face of demands from World Trade Organization members who would like to see our markets opened to foreign imports.

National Post photo by Aaron Lynett

However, Canadian dairy farmers are still making a decent living while U.S. dairy farmers have been operating at a substantial loss for something like a year now. Supply management is what makes that difference. How much longer will American dairy farmers be able to keep operating before the economics of their situation forces many of them to shut down production?

What will Americans drink then? “Dairy Drink” made with imported Chinese milk protein concentrate? Or ultra-pasteurized milk imported from the massive-scale dairy farms of South America?

Rust belt goes to pot with Marijuana U

Here’s an excerpt from a surprising Washington Post story by Andrea Billups on an educational initiative in Detroit to teach people how to grow Marijuana — for medical purposes only, of course:

Photos by Bryan Mitchell for Washington Times

“SOUTHFIELD, Mich. | Nearly a year after voters in this economically disadvantaged state overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative approving the consumption of medicinal marijuana, a new trade school has opened its doors to educate aspiring growers.

Med Grow Cannabis College, located in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, is set to graduate its first class of students later this month. Its co-founder and president, Nick Tennant, the 24-year-old son of a General Motors Corp. employee, said he sees a significant opportunity to teach standards and safety in an industry that can eventually improve the state’s sagging business climate.

“This is profitable and poised for tremendous growth,” Mr. Tennant said.

Although some might jokingly call him the dope dean, Mr. Tennant is serious, even as his appearance is blond, hip and wholesome.

Did Toronto’s H1N1 “Poster Boy” really die of H1N1, or was it something else?

Here’s an excerpt from a significant story from the Canadians for Health Freedom blog. Hearing about this boy’s supposed sudden death from H1N1 galvanized public interest in getting the vaccination so it was certainly a succesful PR campaign. But was the story at the core it all true?

Did this boy really die of H1N1 flu?

“Over the past few days, we have received information from one very reliable known source (and three additional informants too frightened to use their names) indicating that the death of Evan Frustaglio was not due to H1N1:  rather, he succumbed to an acute case of meningitis, possibly exacerbated by his playing hockey that weekend. We further were informed that health authorities were absolutely aware that this was the case, yet perpetuated the myth that young Evan died from a virulent case of the H1N1 Flu, assisted by an eager media.

A knee-jerk response to tragedy

The result of the publicity surrounding the 13-year-old athlete’s tragic death was the lining up of thousands upon thousands of people, children in strollers, babes in arms, waiting for hours for vaccination. Many people interviewed in those lineups said that they were there because they were frightened by how quickly the boy died, with doctors unable to save him.

Canadian Constitution Foundation to take up the cause of access to raw milk

Here’s an excerpt from a story that appeared in the Western Standard, following yesterday’s press conference at Queen’s Park:

Lawyer Karen Selick, of the Canadian Constitution Foundation announced her organization's support for the cause of raw milk in Canada at yesterday morning's news conference at Queens Park, Toronto.

“At a press conference at Queen’s Park today, the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) announced its support for a court case involving consumer choice, freedom of contract, and the right to earn an honest living free from government regulation that is arbitrary, unreasonable, unnecessary and unfair.

The case concerns Ontario dairy farmer Michael Schmidt, who has been providing unpasteurized milk to consumers for approximately 20 years without a single incident of illness attributable to milk borne germs.