Continuing raw milk production in the face of regulatory harassment becomes a matter of conscience for farmers

David E. Gumpert’s latest post over on The Complete Patient blog brings to mind Bill Marler’s reference to him as “the pope of raw milk”. The way David spells it out, the heretic farmers of raw milk are like the Jan Hus of religious history, paving the way for a broader “reformation”, in this case of the food industry. Heady stuff, but what’s their alternative? To become enforcers of the decrees of those who would deprive human beings of the food they need in the name of corporate profit, or in short, to join themselves to the ranks of the praetorian class, as ipso facto defenders of the exploitive scams of the .01%?

Farmer Vernon Herschberger a modern day Jan Hus? . Photo via The Complete Patient blog.

“I obtained a text of Wisconsin dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger’s full statement to the judge in criminal court on Friday. It explains more clearly how he realized he erred by signing a bail agreement to discontinue supplying his food club, and where he is headed on his voyage, than the one quote I had in my comment following the previous post. Here it is:

Vernon HershbergerI cannot in good conscience tell the 100+ families who own the food and depend on it to feed their families, that they can no longer get food to feed their families. The Almighty God has spoken and I cannot do otherwise. God’s word in the Bible states in 1 John 3:16-18, quote, “Hereby perceive we the Love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the Brethren. But whoso has this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the Love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in Word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Bollywood star washes with raw milk

Just in case anyone thought that the idea of using raw milk products for skin care purposes was some kind of made-up fantasy, here’s a story from India about a beautiful film star sharing her skin care and beauty secrets:

From The Times of India:

Dig that raw milk skin tone. Star of the Indian screen, Aditi Rao Hydari, reveals that yes, she washes her face with raw milk. Click image for photo source.

“Actress Aditi Rao Hydari shares her beauty secrets with us.

Skin-tillating! I do some yoga and dance, this makes my skin glow. I keep my skin clean and healthy. An oatmeal pack made at home is what I use for my skin and wash my face with raw milk, some vitamin C and vitamin E serum and moisturiser.

Mane point: Oiling my hair twice a week with organic virgin coconut oil from Navdanya (an organic food store), hair spas as often as possible, Kerastase shampoo for sensitive scalp and a hair mask from Kerastase sum up my hair care regime. This is my regular hair care regime. For the red carpet, I love tousled hair, a side braid or a delicate updo that reveals the neck. My favourite look is that of Audrey Hepburn’s from Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

“It’s milk, Jim, but not as we know it”

Thursday’s story about the raw milk vending machines in Poland attracted quite a lot of interest among Bovine readers. In fact it was the top story of the week with 1,383 page views as of Sunday morning. Which brings us ’round to today’s article, which likewise deals with raw milk vending machines, but this time in England. You may remember there was a bit of flap over there recently about a big store which had the temerity to install such a machine in one of its London stores. Well here’s more news arising from that self-same machine, which seems to still be dispensing raw milk, right there in the heart of London. And perhaps surprisingly, from a North American perspective, the London Bobbies don’t seem to have their knickers in a knot over that simple fact of life:

From Tom Parker Bowles on The Mail Online UK:

The Times' caption for this picture reads like advertising copy for raw milk: "The first taste is a revelation, rich, bounteous and fulsome"

“The machine, nearly 6ft of solid, gleaming steel, sits just to the left of Oddono’s ice cream in London’s Selfridges. And is a mere Tunworth’s roll from the groaning cheese counter.  Which seems entirely apt, as this magnificent monolith dispenses milk, the heart and soul of them both. But this is no run-of-the-mill dairy dullard; it’s a repository of raw, unpasteurised milk from Sussex – buxom, beguiling cowgirl rather than joyless, emaciated waif.

Plug in a few nuggets, put your glass bottle under the spout and out pours a whole litre of foaming, cream-rich delight.  The first taste is a revelation, rich, bounteous and fulsome, like tasting real milk for the very first time.  It’s impeccably clean and fresh, whipping through the mouth with lactic élan, and leaving nothing behind save a lingering, luscious sigh.  It’s milk, Jim, but not as we know it.  

Revisiting the “Rawsome Three” case

From David E. Gumpert on The Complete Patient blog:

Signs currently outside the now shuttered former Rawsome Food Club. David E. Gumpert photo.

Whatever happened to the Rawesome Three (James Stewart, Sharon Palmer, Victoria Bloch)?

Whatever happened to the felony case against the Rawesome Three?

Whatever happened to Rawesome Food Club?

One of Canada’s “big three” dairies, Saputo, recalls milk due to possible contamination with cleaning solution

CFIA image of recalled product via CTV news. Click image to go to the CTV story.

CTV, Global News, Yahoo and Canadian Press are reporting that Saputo dairy has recalled a type of milk product sold in both Ontario and Quebec because it may have been contaminated with a cleaning agent. Apparently you can be too clean.

Yahoo reports that “Milk containing this cleaning solution may not look or smell spoiled, but drinking it may cause symptoms such as nausea, upset stomach or vomiting.”

Still hope for herdshares in California?

From David E. Gumpert, on The Complete Patient blog:

“There are any number of reasons why the negotiations over herdshares taking place in California—between owners of small dairies and the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture– over the last few months should not work.

Many tiny dairies dispensing raw goat’s or cow’s milk through such operations feel as a matter of principle that they shouldn’t have to negotiate a right that is already theirs—the right to contract with neighbors and friends for milk and other dairy and food products.

Even if they aren’t so principled, many shy away from making their presence known to the CDFA. They figure that no matter what comes out of these discussions—even the least onerous regulatory structure—they’d rather not be on any more government agency lists than are necessary. Assuming the CDFA never gives them trouble, who knows what other authorities the agency may send their way.

“False positive” in that Massachusetts “Brucellosis case” blamed on raw milk

I guess this science stuff isn’t all its cracked up to be!

From Bill Marler’s Food Safety News:

“A Massachusetts resident who first tested positive for brucellosis has now been confirmed to not have the infection, according to an email from the assistant commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR).

 “While initial test results did show up positive, further, more specific and accurate testing by the CDC confirmed that the person does not have brucellosis,” Nathan L’Etoile wrote in the message forwarded by the NOFA/Massachusetts Raw Milk Network.

California Waldorf teacher helps write acclaimed book about urban gardening

From Hannah Wallace, on Civil Eats:

Urban gardening book co-author Willow Rosenthal. Photo via the Civil Eats blog.

“After Novella Carpenter’s critically acclaimed memoir Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer came out, she and friend Willow Rosenthal, the founder of West Oakland gardening nonprofit City Slicker Farms, started talking about compiling a manual on urban gardening. “We always got these random emails like, ‘My chickens aren’t laying anymore!’” says Carpenter. So she and Rosenthal joked that they should write a book so they could reply: “Buy the book!”

Three years later, they can. Their new book, The Essential Urban Farmer, is a 500-page nuts-and-bolts guide to farming in the city–complete with sample garden designs, detailed illustrations, and photos of rabbit genitalia. Rosenthal, who is also a Waldorf School teacher and runs a small CSA in Berkeley, wrote the first two sections of the book: “Designing Your Urban Farm” and “Raising City Vegetables and Fruits.” Carpenter wrote the section called “Raising City Animals.” With advice on how to fix a chicken’s prolapsed “vent,” and a detailed how-to on eviscerating a chicken, it’s not for the squeamish. But then, neither is raising livestock.

Raw milk in Poland — interview with a Polish raw milk vending machine maker

Polish raw milk vending machine manufacturer Konrad Pszowski came to our attention through comments he posted on the Bovine. We thought, as a maker of raw milk automats, he could fill us in a little on the under-reported raw milk scene in Europe. So we contacted him. He wrote back, and we sent him some questions. And now we are pleased to present his answers in the form of this exclusive interview:

Raw milk vending machine in an urban setting in eastern Europe.

The Bovine:  When I was in Poland in 2007, one could drive along the highway from Warsaw to Bialystock and see people milking cows into buckets out in the field. Also one would sometimes pass horse-drawn hay wagons on the smaller roads. Is there a strong feeling among Poles that smalll farming is something that should be encouraged, that it’s here to stay and not on the way out like it is in so many other parts of the world?

Controversial Toronto backyard chicken “farmers” still waiting for the sky to fall

From David Rider, in the Toronto Star:

Trish Tervit holds Pippi, one of her pet hens. Tervit got into backyard chicken farmng as a fun educational exercise for her daughters, and loves the fresh eggs. ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE/TORONTO STAR. Click image to go to the Toronto Star story.

“Trish Tervit is a friendly mom, an executive with a buzzing iPhone and an outlaw urban farmer collecting eggs on borrowed time.

Her hens — Pippi, Mabel and Elli — peer through a sliding-glass door, schnauzer-like, into Tervit’s Upper Beach semi-detached home.

“I blame my daughter’s Grade 6 teacher,” who brought cute chicks to class, triggering the inevitable “Can we get chickens?” plea from both of Tervit’s daughters.