Raw milk developments in B.C. — not necessarily court, but court if necessary

From Gordon Watson in British Columbia:

Here’s your comic relief for the day, fans of REAL MILK

Lately I’d been reminded that a section of the Milk Industry Act referred to farms being able to retail raw milk to the public in British Columbia. That section was a vestige of the Act as it was before 1996. Up to 1996, the act had 3 sections explicity saying that a farm could be certified by the Province to retail raw milk to the public. But when I wrote to the Milk Marketing Board, asking how to go about doing that, they replied saying they had no idea what I was talking about

I used that point in my letters to officials, arguing that that proved there was still a statutory duty to accomodate those who want raw milk, as set out in the Report of the Royal Commission on milk marketing, upon which this Act is predicated.

Up ’til August 13th 2011, it used to say:

Bill Marler on government’s laisser-faire attitude to meat poisoning in America

From Barry Estabrook, on his “Politics of the Plate” blog:

Bill Marler

“….Since the USDA decreed that E. coli O157:H7 was an adulterant in 1997 and required companies to test for the bug and to cook any positive samples before distributing them to consumers, Marler has noticed a dramatic drop in the outbreaks of illness caused byE. coli-tainted ground meat. “Prior to that, 90 percent of our firm’s revenue came from E.-coli cases linked to hamburger,” said Marler. “That’s virtually disappeared—with one little act.”

Marler wanted Cargill to perform the same scientifically-based sampling for resistant Salmonella as it does for E.-coli and to divert any contaminated meat for use in precooked products (thorough cooking kills the harmful bacteria). If the Cargill agreed to do that, he proposed to sit down behind closed doors with company lawyers to quietly negotiate a fair settlement. Having handled more than 5,000 salmonella-poisoning cases in his career, Marler said that he has a good idea of reasonable rewards for his clients.

“Macleans” challenges Canada’s dairy supply management monopoly with recent story about “the $25,000 cow”

From Andrew Coyne, in Macleans:

Headline image and titles from the Macleans story online. Click image to go there.

“I have a proposal I’d like to run by you. As you’re no doubt aware, the Canadian pundit industry has been going through some difficult times of late, not—God knows!—through any fault of our own, but what with the economy, and fluctuating advertising revenues, and that whole Internet thing . . . Anyway, we’re a resourceful industry with a proud history, so we’re not looking for any handouts, but what I was wondering was if maybe there was some way just to bring some order to the marketplace, so we wouldn’t have to deal with these wild swings in market conditions that, I can tell you, make it impossible to plan.

Dairy Farmers of America colluded with Dean Foods to artificially depress the price paid to farmers; like “abuse of dominance” in case of B.C. raw milk?

An introduction from Gordon Watson:

“The term “abuse of dominance” comes from the Competition Act Revised Statutes of Canada. It is defined as an offence under that act.

From what I’ve seen over the last 13 years’ of my involvement with the Campaign for REAL MILK in British C0lumbia, the engine of opposition to fresh whole raw milk being available is from the big food processors, using the pretext of “concern for public health” as a cover story for suppressing competitors who can deliver a far-superior product.

Apologists for the Canadian way of doing things = the Canadian Wheat Board, the vegetable marketing boards, and the milk marketing boards = will quickly bleat that ‘oh that can’t happen here, the marketing boards are controlled by the government’.

Keeping food cool without electricity

This is being suggested for third world countries like Africa, but the way thing have been trending, we may eventually need it here too:

Salmonella tainted Mexican papayas prompts Consumer Alert from CFIA

That’s what we do when a health hazard doesn’t involve raw milk!
From the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) website:

Note that one of the pictures above is of cows -- clearly a food source in need of much inspection

“OTTAWA, August 26, 2011 – There was a recent outbreak of Salmonella agona in the United States linked to papayas from Mexico. As a result, the United States Food and Drug Administration has put import controls on papayas from Mexico.

Canada imports papayas from Mexico through the United States. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is working with authorities in the United States and Mexico to identify any products that have been shipped to Canada. Based on this information, theCFIA will determine if Canada requires additional import controls.

Big dairy and FDA teaming up against raw milk farmers sez Business Insider

From Jeff Carter on the Business Insider:

.

“Last night I went to see the documentary Farmageddon in Chicago.

I also stayed for the full panel discussion. The film is shocking. Documentaries are supposed to shock you. Michael Moore has made millions presenting slanted facts to us.

Documentaries are designed to get you to do something. This documentary illustrates the plight of the organic farmer, specifically the organic dairy farmer. If a dairy farmer wants to sell raw milk, they will be run out of business and many times imprisoned by the federal bureaucracy.

B.C.’s Fraser Health Authority conducts search of the Chilliwack cowshare farm

The following is from an email sent to Fraser Health in response:

August 29^th 2011

Tim Shum,    Regional Director,  Fraser Health Authority

Emailed to  Tim.Shum@fraserhealth.ca

On Friday August 26^th 2011 upon learning that he had executed a search of the farm in Chilliwack,  I called Inspector George Rice, explaining that,  since the Warrant apparently was predicated upon concerns about my private property – ie, milk produced by cows in which I have an interest – and that my right to make full answer and defence to a charge begins the minute I get notice of such potentiality, then I am entitled to a copy of it as well as the Information to Obtain immediately.   He refused to co-operate, telling me to direct my inquiry to you.  In a voice mail later the same day,  you asked me ‘to clarify my relationship with Home on the Range dairy’.    The short answer is :  Four years ago Alice Jongerden and I started the cowshare known as “Home on the Range” because the government was failing to accommodate those of us who want fresh whole pure raw milk from grass-fed cows. Spelled out at section 40 (3) (q)  of the Milk Industry Act is the statutory duty upon the Minister of Agriculture to make “ … just and equitable provision for the sale of milk from approved raw milk dairy farms ..”  But since September 14  2010,  she has run it as a buying club,  dealing strictly in various foodstuffs  other than raw milk dairy products.  I have nothing to do with that business

Backlash begins against initiatives to prohibit raw milk sales in Ireland

From a recent letter to the editor, published in the Irish Times, via 3 Wheeled Cheese blog:

“The Irish government intends to ban the sale of raw milk before the end of 2011. The Campaign for Raw Milk in Ireland (CRM) has been formed on behalf of a number of businesses, farmers, chefs, food critics, representative bodies and consumers. The CRM is calling for the government to cease its plans for a draconian, outright ban and take the time to consider other options available in the form of regulation of the raw milk industry in Ireland.

We believe everyone has a right to choose to drink one of Ireland’s premium products which has a rightfully esteemed place in our food heritage. Informed consumers should have the right to decide for themselves what they eat and drink.

Dr. Ron Paul on “Liberty, Economy and the Pursuit of Raw Milk in America”

From Mercola.com, via Youtube.com: