“Milk”, the third documentary film in which raw milk and food rights activist Michael Schmidt has figured prominently, airs tonight at 8 pm on CBC’s Documentary channel. See trailer below:
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/16449903]From the cbc.ca promo page for the film:
“Milk: The Documentary is an entertaining, award-winning documentary that dares to question the conventional wisdom of the much publicized health benefits of milk and dairy products. An inquisitive man sets out to find the facts about milk and discovers more about the growing controversy surrounding it.
Throughout the journey, he is left with more and more questions instead of answers and remains dangling and confused amidst vastly opposing positions held by various doctors, scientists, nutritionists and experts. Milk is a food so fundamental to our daily diet that its value for our health, it seems, is meant to be left unquestioned. Milk is the perfect food. Or is it?”
Poster for the film
An interview for the film was shot with Michael Schmidt and David Gumpert at Glencolton Farms in January 2010, on the eve of the not-guilty verdict. “Milk” filmmaker, Sebastian Howard, was also there along with the other media when Michael Schmidt emerged victorious from the courthouse the following day. Of course there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then. The crown has appealed. Michael has been convicted and sentenced. Michael’s lawyer, Karen Selick, requested leave to appeal. That leave was granted. And now we’re waiting for the appeal to be heard, probably sometime this spring.
David Gumpert and Michael Schmidt have a little night lunch while waiting for an interview for the film “Milk” to commence. “Milk” airs Jan 29th, 2013 at 8 pm on CBC’s Documentary channel.
But, as has been noted elsewhere, Michael Schmidt has other irons in the fire, besides his own raw milk case in Ontario. He is due to appear in court in Vancouver next month, along with west-coast raw milk activist Gordon Watson, to face charges of contempt of court, because of his work with a Chilliwack-area cowshare operation originally known as “Home on the Range”. That, and the recent sheep napping case, replete with criminal charges laid by the CFIA that threaten to send Michael to prison for years. That case will resume March 27th in Cobourg, Ontario.
A promotional still from the “Milk” doc. Those look like Michael Schmidt’s cattle.
Unlike the previous films, “Michael Schmidt, organic hero or bioterrorist” and “Milk War”, this film is not so narrowly focused on raw milk per se, but addresses the broader question of milk generally, with raw milk being a part of that bigger picture. The mainstream milk business is not going so well, in spite of continued massive promotional spending by marketing boards. By most reports, milk sales are steadily declining. Raw milk, and, perhaps also organic milk, seem to be among the few growing niches within the overall decline of the product sector.
From the CBC doc channel website. Click image to go there.
The Bovine 
Following these cases just proves to me that Canada is NOT a land of free people and that the government there is filled with power mongering bureaucrats who trump up charge after charge, persuing activists relentlessly just because the governments has a little egg on their faces. And to think I once thought of Canada and the Canadian government as “even handed, equitable, fair, politically correct and even ‘enlightened”. Criminal, is what they are. Perhaps even fascist. Canada’s government is full of a bunch of lying frauds. They have lost ALL credibility with me.
I’ll be watching for sure!
Walter K.
Can’t wait to see this tonight. I hope that the film maker makes the distinction between the kind of milk Michael is talking about and the “fraud” that the last person on the trailer speaks of. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Michael Schmidt should be a politician. After watching the debate today over the Idle No More movement on CBC and seeing our politicians screaming at each other, I think we need a radical change in all parties.
Interesting that they talked about the cows dying young after being fed GMO food and yet the other scientist who says milk causes cancer didn’t seem to stop to wonder if the GMO’s in the food fed to cows in these huge barns might have played a part. I wish someone would do a research study and really look at the difference in the health of the animal and the people drinking it’s milk from both pastured/organic and commercial. My heart ached for those cows on the carousel. Has humanity gotten so dislodged from our connection with the earth that the vast majority sees nothing wrong with treating animals this way?
Reblogged this on MisBehaved Woman.
Reblogged this on bearspawprint.
CBC Radio interview with one of the makers of this film: http://www.cbc.ca/radiowest/2013/01/30/milk-the-documentary/