“The evidence is on the farmer’s side” — U of A prof writes in Lawyers Weekly

from a scan of the original story as it appeared in Lawyers Weekly, Nov. 7, 2008

“Most Canadians think of their country as a progressive nation infused with values of tolerance and understanding. Canadians pride themselves on being less dogmatic than their American counterparts and routinely point to  the liberal attitude towards social issues such as gay marriage and drug legalization (or at least decriminalization). Yet, just the other day, the state descended upon a Canadian who had the temerity to sell his product to consenting adults who knowingly choose to consume it despite the state’s admonition that it is dangerous.

In fact, raw (unpasteurized) milk is so dangerous that the state has been waging a regulatory crusade against many farmers whose only sin is to supply consumers with a product that they believe is healthier and tastier than what the state decrees we can consume.

Polly Pasteurize goes to WAPF “Wise Traditions” conf. — and files this report

From the raw milk frontlines at the Wise Traditions conference. Photo: Polly P.

Here’s an entertaining report on the raw milk antics at the recent Weston A. Price Foundation “Wise Traditions” conference in California. This report is by the “haphazard girls” who, by the way, seem to be opposed to raw milk. Still, it’s fun to read their perspective on it, and it’s interesting to note that in spite of their bias, they did come out to take part in the conference. Here’s a bit of what they had to say on their Haphazard Gourmet Girls blog:

“Haphazard pal Polly Pasteurize hung out with a bunch of small dairy farmers and broom-skirt-wearing natural foodists over the weekend at the Weston H. Price Foundation’s Wise Traditions Conference, which was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel near the airport in San Francisco, California. The foundation is run by nutritionist and author Sally Fallon, and is devoted to changing contemporary eating habits to what they regard as a healthier model. Among other things, WHPF is a big proponent of Raw (unpasteurized) Milk. (Conference pix on this post courtesy of Polly Pasteurize)

Could pesticides give farmers cancer? — or do they kill only weeds and bugs?

A farmer sprays potatoes in PEI. Shaun Best/Reuters photo

Ok this is not raw milk, but it is about agriculture and health. Seems the Cancer Society has finally awakened to the realization that agricultural use of pesticides could somehow be implicated in rising rates of cancer among farmers and farm workers, to say nothing of those of us who eat the food. What took them so long? Needless to say, even broaching the subject opens a big nasty can of worms with the agribusiness establishment. Martin Mittelstaedt reports on the story in Wednesday’s Globe and Mail. And now, as of 8:00 am Thursday, there are already 128 comments. Clearly this topic touches a nerve. Here’s a sampling:

“For years, the Canadian Cancer Society has argued in favour of bans on the cosmetic use of pesticides around homes and gardens. But it has remained silent on the country’s biggest use of bug and weed killers: on farms.

Now, the society is considering weighing in on whether these sprays pose a cancer risk to farmers, other rural residents near them, and to the wider public from eating foods carrying pesticide residues.