St. John’s day festival yesterday, held at Michael Schmidt’s Glencolton Farms

Special events began yesterday at about 3 pm with a farm tour for Cow Share Canada members. This was followed by an open house St. John’s day (midsummer) festival with a potluck supper, entertainment, and a massive St. John’s day fire. See pictures below (pictures courtesy of Glencolton Farms).

Still burning embers of the massive St. John's day fire at Glencolton Farms yesterday, and full moon

Michael Schmidt’s pasteurized and raw milk calf trial, and “Pottenger’s Cats”

Cowshare member Gary Wilson provides some useful scientific perspective on Michael Schmidt’s recent “Tale of Two Calves” experiment:

Picture via "I can haz cheeseburger" website

Michael Schmidt’s Tale of Two Calves and Pottenger’s Cats

In his report of the results of feeding one calf raw milk and one calf pasteurized milk, Michael mentions a study done by Francis M. Pottenger, Jr., M.D. The results of this study are published by the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation in a book called “Pottenger’s Cats, A Study In Nutrtion”,

From the introduction of this book, “Between the years of 1932 and 1942, Dr. Francis Marion Pottenger, Jr., conducted a feeding experiment to determine the effects of heat-processed food on cats.” This study was conducted on 900 cats of which 600 had complete, recorded health histories. Experimental cats received a diet of two thirds cooked food with one third raw food, along with cod liver oil. Control cats were fed a similar diet of all raw food, along with cod liver oil.

Appeal hearings postponed til Oct 21st, in case of dairy farmer Michael Schmidt

Raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt emerges from the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket around noon yesterday along with a few of the many cowshare members who were there in support of legal raw milk, and Michael's lawyer, Karen Selick (right) of the Canadian Constitution Foundation.

At 9:30 yesterday morning, cowshare members, friends and legal counsel were down in the basement of the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket with raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt, attempting to find out in which courtroom the case was to be heard.

Ontario’s raw milk cow-share farmer Michael Schmidt interviewed about the province’s appeal tomorrow June 24th

In anticipation of tomorrow’s start of the appeal process by the Ontario government of Justice Kowarsky’s verdict on Michael Schmidt’s raw milk cowshare, here is a self-interview with raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt:

Raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt rides through the country in a horse and buggy.

MS: Michael you will return again after 6 months to the courthouse to deal with the appeal by the Province and your local health unit, how do you feel about that??

Milk Trial By Jury opera July 30 – Aug 1

Here’s the latest from Ontario raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt:

Just-released promotional poster for the upcoming raw milk themed musical and dramatic production

This original operetta adaptation from the Gilbert and Sullivan version will be performed four times, Friday July 30th at 8pm, Saturday July 31 at 2pm and 8 pm, and Sunday August 1 at 2 pm, according to the information currently available. For details of the full Symphony in the Barn programme, see the website at www.symphonyinthebarn.com

Regulators gone wild — U.S. Pork Board takes legal action against Unicorn meat ad over “the new white meat” tagline

Excerpted from ThinkGeek.com:

Original promo for the product launched April 1st.

“Recently we got the best-ever cease and desist letter. We’re no stranger to the genre, so what could possibly make this one stand out from the rest?

Is food already being used as a tool for social control in present-day America?

Here’s an excerpt from a recent story titled “Food Not Bombs: or, Free Bread and Soup is a National Threat“:

Image above from the "Food Not Bombs" website

“…The realization that I lived in a culture that locked up it’s food in order to force us to work was a brutal shock.  Come to think of it, it still is a brutal shock, because that’s one of those “hidden in plain sight” secrets that’s easy to forget for months at a time.

Families fight back against raw milk ban

Here’s the story, from KSPR news in Missouri:

“….More raw emotions over raw milk as the Christian County Health Department Board of Trustees votes to ban the distribution of the product at the county’s farmer’s markets.

Those who sell it say it isn’t right,and they are finding ways to circumvent the system- they claim- on behalf of their customers.

“The farmer’s market is one of our biggest outlets.”

Still is, even though technically, it’s not supposed to be.

Minnesota regulators execute a search warrant on home of raw milk consumer

Thanks to Joanne for bringing this story to our attention. Here’s an excerpt from a recent report from Minnesota Public Radio news:

Photo via Minnesota Public Radio

“Worthington, Minn. — The state’s raw milk investigation apparently has expanded beyond the farm linked to an E. coli outbreak that sickened eight people.

Australian hippie commune busted over people who are drinking raw bath milk!

The latest breaking story from raw milk down under, excerpted from the couriermail.com.au website:

MILK OF KINDNESS: Farmer Peter Mahaffey tops up Kym Franklin's Cleopatra Milk Bath at his farm at Goomboorian. Pic: Robyne CuerelI Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

“IT’S a story of undercover agents and an illegal substance, set in the heart of Queensland’s best-known hippie community.

The Maple Street Food Co-op in Maleny on the Sunshine Coast has become an alternative lifestylers’ icon over the past three decades. But now the store has been busted – for allegedly promoting the sale of raw, or unpasteurised, milk for drinking which has been illegal in Australia since the 1980s.