Michael Schmidt to speak at Institute of Holistic Nutrition (IHN) in Toronto July 5 and Mississauga July 6th, 2 pm

The following is an introduction by Sarah Dobec, IHN’s Nutrition and The Environment instructor:

MICHAEL SCHMIDT: RAW MILK, BIODYNAMIC FARMING AND THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE.

“Bernard is right; the pathogen is nothing; the terrain is everything.” — Louis Pasteur

Photo of Michael Schmidt with his cows via IHN

Michael Schmidt has a master’s degree in agriculture and has been a biodynamic farmer for over 33 years. Born in Germany, he came to Canada in 1983 and has been instrumental in massive changes towards the awareness of the cultural importance of agriculture. He is leading the fierce battle to legalize raw milk in Canada. He has been making headline news across Canada ever since and has received international recognition for his efforts to legalize raw milk.

July’s first IHN Guest Speaker talk will introduce you to the man and his mission. Michael’s wish to change Canadian laws that prohibit the sale of unpasteurized milk and by extension preserve our individual rights was made into a documentary called “Milk Wars”. The documentary recently won the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award (The Oscars of the Food Industry) in New York City.

The pursuit of one’s trade — economic rights inseparable from civil liberties

By Karen Selick 

Bad legal reasoning — especially when it comes from the country’s highest court — is similar to an urban legend. Once launched into the world of legal precedent, bad reasoning gets stripped down to a pithy slogan, then repeated over and over again until everyone accepts it as a truth beyond questioning, even when it’s fallacious.

That’s what happened to the concept of “economic liberty” 22 years ago, when Canadian courts were first wrestling with the then relatively new Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In a 1989 case, three justices of the Supreme Court of Canada raised doubts about whether economic liberty should be considered part of the “life, liberty and security of the person” guarantee of the Charter. However, they said it was too early in the history of Charter jurisprudence to decide the issue definitively.

“Food – the ultimate secret, exposed” — Alex Jones on the dangers of eating the standard American diet (SAD)

From Alex Jones’ Infowars.com:

“The grocery store, along with your kitchen sink, are two of the most dangerous places in the world.

In a special video, Alex Jones addresses one of the darkest modes of power the globalists have used to control the population– food. The adulteration of the planet’s staple crops, genetically-altered species and intentionally-altered water, food and air all amount to a Eugenics operation to weaken the masses and achieve full spectrum domination.

Wisconsin raw milk policy working group report (from March 2011)

Click here to download a pdf version of the report. (261 pages, 7.8 Mb file)

Click on above to download a pdf version of the report

Monsanto’s leading activist has a tough job battling the raw milk insurgency and promoting the GMO gospel

From Brandon Turbeville, writing for the Activist Post:

“In recent months there have been many articles dealing with the intensification of the war on milk launched by the FDA. (See here and here. Also here.) I myself, have written articles explaining the dangers of corporate control of the dairy industry and the specific health concerns related to the use of antibiotics and rBGH in the production of milk.

In my book, Codex Alimentarius – The End of Health Freedom, I detail these health problems as well as the events surrounding the FDA’s compliance with Monsanto’s wishes regarding the use of rBGH in dairy products. Of course, governmental compliance with corporate wishes is not surprising considering the fact that the ranks of the FDA are filled with former Monsanto employees and affiliates and that there exists a virtual revolving door between the agency and the corporation.

Racine outbreak (from milk intended for pasteurization) used to argue against allowing legal raw milk in Wisconsin

From WisconsinWatch.org

“By Natasha Anderson, Steve Horn, Sarah Karon and Rory Linnane
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Carrying a cooler of raw milk, Wisconsin vegetable farmer Brian Wickert climbs the steps of the state Capitol on a sunny April day. He is a man on a mission: to lobby for legislative support for a Wisconsin Raw Milk Association, says in a later interview. “We want the right to choose the food we eat. Why does the government care whether I want to go and drink raw milk? Am I so stupid that I don’t know the risks?”

For Wickert, this bill is about having the freedom to live without interference from the government. But for health officials in America’s Dairyland, it’s about potentially exposing unsuspecting citizens to disease-causing bacteria. At the crux of this debate is the age-old question: How much should government protect its citizens from possible hazards?

New research on fluoride and vaccine recently published in leading journals

From Carl Herman, at the Examiner.com:

“Fluoride:

“The prolonged ingestion of fluoride may cause significant damage to health and particularly to the nervous system,” concludes a review of studies by researchers Valdez-Jimenez, et al. published in Neurologia (June 2011), reports New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc. (NYSCOF).

The research team reports, “It is important to be aware of this serious problem and avoid the use of toothpaste and items that contain fluoride, particularly in children as they are more susceptible to the toxic effects of fluoride.” (1)

“Fluoride can be toxic by ingesting one part per million (ppm), and the effects are not immediate, as they can take 20 years or more to become evident,” they write.

David Suzuki on feeding the world from small organic farms instead of from big industrial-style agribusiness operations

From David Suzuki on The Straight.com:

“We often assume the only way to feed the world’s rapidly growing human population is with large-scale industrial agriculture. Many would argue that genetically altering food crops is also necessary to produce large enough quantities on smaller areas to feed the world’s people.

But recent scientific research is challenging those assumptions. Our global approaches to agriculture are critical. To begin, close to one billion people are malnourished and many more are finding it difficult to feed their families as food prices increase. But is large-scale industrial farming the answer?

Ron Paul and Barney Frank would end U.S. federal prohibition on marijuana

From Mike Riggs at Reason.com:

Image via Reason.com

“Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) will introduce “bi-partisan legislation tomorrow ending the federal war on marijuana and letting states legalize, regulate, tax, and control marijuana without federal interference,” according to a press release from the Marijuana Policy Project that just hit my inbox. More from that email:

Wisconsin raw milk “poisoning” turns out to be from raw milk intended for pasteurization

David E. Gumpert on The Complete Patient blog:

“In golf, when you slice the ball into the other fairway, or dribble it into a pond, you may decide to take a “mulligan”–pretend the errant shot didn’t happen and just take another shot.

The state of Wisconsin seems to have decided to take a mulligan over the “poisoning,” (a favorite term of the food safety lobby when people become ill from food-borne illness) of 18 people, many of them children, in Wisconsin…from raw milk last week.

This is the story that was breathlessly broken by Bill Marler on his blog last week. “I expect to hear that it is part of a FDA sponsored conspiracy against expanding raw milk sales in Wisconsin.  Raw milk is not ‘magic.’  It has real risks.” When the story first broke, commenters on his blog and on a food safety list serve were practically apoplectic. “There should be a FEDERAL LAW against serving raw milk in a school,” one of the hysterics stated.