Big brother cows farmers over raw milk

The material below is excerpted from a blog titled “The Spoils of War” as well as from a WorldNetDaily.com story from May 2008 titled: “Feds Launch ‘Gestapo’ raid over raw milk”. Sound familiar?

A Pennsylvania Mennonite farmer charged with raw milk crimes.

First from WorldNetDaily.com, by Bob Unruh:

“A rally has been set for tomorrow in front of the magistrate’s office in Mt. Holly, Pa., in support of a Mennonite farmer who has brought the wrath of the government on himself for selling raw milk and other products – an act government prosecutors say violates a number of regulations.

That’s when the next court hearing is scheduled for Mark Nolt, a Pennsylvania farmer who turned in his state permit to sell raw milk because it didn’t allow for the sale of the other products he offered.

“They swooped in … like a bunch of Vikings, handcuffed me and stole $30,000 worth of my milk, cheese and butter,” he told the New York Daily News.

Raw milk movie tickets go on sale today

Raw milk film is featured in the 9th annual Planet in Focus film festival in Toronto, May 23, 2008

Yes, tickets are finally on sale for Norman Loft’s groundbreaking documentary, “Michael Schmidt: Organic Hero or Bioterrorist”. The ROM theatre seats only about 250 people, so don’t wait til the last moment to get yours. You can order them over the phone by calling 416-967-1528 and pay with a credit card. Tickets are $10, or $8 for students or seniors. That’s plus a $3.50 service charge. You pick up your tickets on the day of the event, October 23rd.

Alternately you can buy advance tickets in person at the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) box office in the Manulife Centre, in downtown Toronto, in which case the service charge is only $2. TIFF is handling ticket sales for the Planet in Focus festival.

Raw Milk Legal in Kansas and Missouri

Here’s a story from KansasCity.com by Anne Brockoff titled “The Romance of Raw Milk”. Apparently raw milk is perfectly legal down there provided you collect it at the farm or have it delivered (Missouri only). Nevertheless, a number of Kansas raw milk farmers declined to be interviewed for this story. The photo is also from this story.

Sarah Burnett with one of her family's Jersey cows. These cows give raw milk and that's just the way that many of Heritage Farms' customers like to drink it -- raw!

“Sarah Burnett and her family don’t just believe in raw milk. They make a good part of their livelihood selling it.

At Heritage Farms near Cameron, Mo., their herd of mostly Jersey and Jersey-cross cows grazes pasture that has been in the family four generations. The family milks the cows, filters and chills the milk and delivers it to customers in Missouri.

“We tell people, ‘We take it out of the cow, filter it and it’s yours,’ ” Burnett says.

That’s what worries regulators, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Burnetts are among several hundred small American dairy farmers producing raw, or unpasteurized, goat and cow milk — and more consumers are clamoring to buy it.