Owen Sound Sun Times tones down its rhetoric over raw milk evangelist

I suspect the Sun Times caught some flack from local readers over their wholesale adoption of the government/DFO position on the Michael Schmidt raw milk case, as illustrated in their editorial from earlier this week. See our post “Owen Sound Sun Times no longer shines on Michael Schmidt’s raw milk“.

In its latest editorial, dated Saturday, the Sun Times adopt a more conciliatory tone, although they remain critical of Schmidt’s approach.  See excerpts below:

This is by Phil McNicoll and is titled “Schmidt needs to switch gears in raw milk debate”:

I am not one of those people “old enough to remember the days before pasteurization” of milk became a matter of law in Ontario and resulted in a dramatic drop in the infant mortality rate in the province.

But for a crucial year in my childhood I drank raw milk every day and coincidentally experienced a growth spurt that likely rivalled that enjoyed by any child since homo sapiens first started walking upright on the earth.

Is it really the “Dairy Farmers of Ontario” prosecuting Michael Schmidt? — Is the legal system just their proxy?

Michael Schmidt speaks at "Planet in Focus". Photo: Sean Bennell.

The conversation continues on CBCnews.ca, which is now up to 365 comments. Here’s a fascinating exchange between someone who calls himself “James McLaren” and farmer Michael Schmidt himself:

“James McLaren:

‘This seems to be the most active and intelligent Canadian forum discussing the Michael Schmidt case,’

“Intelligent”, huh? Sigh. Every year plenty of people (probably hundreds) get sick from drinking raw milk. The thing is, because they have this notion that it is somehow more natural than pasteurized milk, and they equate “natural” with “better” they don’t connect the illness to the raw milk consumption: they will think it a case of flu or some other similar illness. This is not surprising because it usually takes a couple days after drinking the contaminated milk before you get sick. Raw milk is NOT, repeat NOT safe to drink. Remember the listeria outbreak? Well, raw milk routinely contains listeria among other bacteria. No matter how clean the cows or milking equipment are kept, there will still be significant bacterial contamination in raw milk; milk is a pretty ideal food for bacteria as well as people. Why are the Dairy Farmers of Ontario so active in prosecuting Schmidt, as well as the other raw milk nuts? Could it be some vast conspiracy? Maybe they just don’t want people to die from drinking their product.”

The glass is more than half empty according to Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada figures reveal that milk is the most under-consumed food group. Pic from "Dairy Goodness" website.

According to the Statistics Canada, milk consumption among adults is highest in the 17-30 year old age group. But even in that “best case” adult demographic, it is only 44.5% (avg) of recommended. Of course the figure for children aged 4-9 is “better” at 63%.  But if you average all the segments (and I know this is misleading because the population in each segment is not equal) the figure you get is 34.5%.

Now the really big question is “how much of that missing market share could be recovered if a credible and safe raw milk option could be introduced to the marketplace?” In California, raw milk is sold across the state in Whole Foods and in other stores. Sure it’s a far cry from Glencolton Farms cow share model, but f they can do it, why can’t we?

Raw milk for beauty enhancement — should that be “external use only”?

Back in the days of hoary antiquity, when Cleopatra bathed her royal personage in milk, you can bet that the milk she bathed in was just as raw as her royal body. After all, pasteurization wasn’t standard practice until nearly 2000 years after her time. And actually no, this is not a photo of Cleopatra in her bath of raw milk.

Why limit ourselves to food when cosmetic uses can be so much more profitable. Photo is from a promotional video -- but not for milk. See details at bottom.

Mentions of raw milk turn up in the darndest places — here, for example, in an article about mik baths for beauty enhancement on the examiner.com website. The story is titled “Milk really does do a body good”. Here’s a bit of what they say: