Raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt talks about why he’s going on a hunger strike

Michael Schmidt at last Tuesday's news conference.

Dear Friends, it has become clear that my decision to enter this hunger strike is creating controversy.

I want to make clear that this is a very personal decision I have been pondering for a long time.

In a way this can be viewed as an act of aggression in order to force people into action. No doubt this is a valid argument in the context of freedom and oppression.

There have been other times before when I was ready to make this decision but upon reflection with a good friend realized the timing was wrong.

People need time without pressure to learn to read the signs of our times and then come to their own conclusions what to do.

Grade nine girl reveals what life is like on Canada’s most infamous raw milk farm, with farmer Michael Schmidt

Kathleen, right, and her friend Moira, hold baby pigs at Glencolton Farms.

The Bovine: So, as I understand it, Kathleen, you were living at the Michael Schmidt farm for 3 weeks this spring of 2011 for your Grade 9 Farm practicum at the Waldorf school. How many of your classmates came along with you to the farm? Had you specifically asked to go to the Schmidt farm? Were there a lot of other kids in your class who would have liked to go to the Schmidt farm but who had to go somewhere else instead? How was it all decided?

India sues Monsanto over “bio-piracy”

From Jonathan Benson, at Global Research.ca

“Representing one of the most agriculturally bio-diverse nations in the world, India has become a primary target for biotechnology companies like Monsanto and Cargill to spread their genetically-modified (GM) crops into new markets. However, a recent France 24 report explains that the Indian government has decided to take an offensive approach against this attempted agricultural takeover by suing Monsanto for “biopiracy,” accusing the company of stealing India’s indigenous plants in order to re-engineer them into patented varieties.

Brinjal, also known in Western nations as eggplant, is a native Indian crop for which there are roughly 2,500 different unique varieties. Millions of Indian farmers grow brinjal, which is used in a variety of Indian food dishes, and the country grows more than a quarter of the world’s overall supply of the vegetable.

Why are so many people so stupid?

Raw milk advocate enters hunger strike after 15 charges upheld in appeal court

From Dylan C. Robertson, in the Toronto Star:

Raw-milk crusader Michael Schmidt, shown on his dairy farm near Durham, has embarked on a hunger strike after his battle to sell pastuerized milk hit another legal hurdle. KEITH BEATY/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

“After armed raids and thousands of dollars in legal fees, dairy farmer Michael Schmidt is on a hunger strike after his fight to legalize the sale of raw milk hit another hurdle.

Schmidt was informed Wednesday afternoon that he’d been convicted of 15 provincial offences relating to the sale of unpasteurized milk. He could face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, including $5,000 for each day he continues to distribute his milk.

Schmidt, owner of Glencolton Farms near Durham, Ont., started his hunger strike Thursday night. He’s consuming just one glass of his own cows’ milk per day to start a public debate on food regulation.

More raw milk farmers and advocates join Michael Schmidt’s hunger strike

From David E. Gumpert on The Complete Patient blog;

Raw milk farmers Michael Schmidt, in happier times, at a news conference the day before the verdict was announced reversing his acquittal on 15 raw milk related charges from November 2006.

“…The worldwide protest movement has already arrived in the U.S., on Wall Street, where hundreds of people from around the country have gathered to protest the power of America’s banks in grabbing resources via bailouts and favorable treatment by the country’s all-powerful Federal Reserve Bank.

How does the Food Rights movement fit into all of this? It’s probably too early to say for sure how it fits in, or even whether it fits in at all.