UN embracing agricultural sanity?

Seems the UN is not all “Agenda 21”. From AltHealthReport.com:

Click image to download the full UN report (5.4 Mb)

Even as the United States government continues to push for the use of more chemically-intensive and corporate-dominated farming methods such as GMOs and monoculture-based crops, the United Nations is once against sounding the alarm about the urgent need to return to (and develop) a more sustainable, natural and organic system.

That was the key point of a new publication from the UN Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) titled “Trade and Environment Review 2013: Wake Up Before It’s Too Late,” which included contributions from more than 60 experts around the world.

The cover of the report looks like that of a blockbuster documentary or Hollywood movie, and the dramatic nature of the title cannot be understated: The time is now to switch back to our natural farming roots.

The findings on the report seem to echo those of a December 2010 UN Report in many ways, one that essentially said organic and small-scale farming is the answer for “feeding the world,” not GMOs and monocultures.

Friends group raising $3.6M to save 5 acres of Toronto Waldorf School land

At stake here — saving five acres of biodynamic gardens on an anthroposophical campus — from encroaching suburban sprawl. Photo via Friends of Toronto Waldorf School Foundation.

In case you’ve been wondering why posts on the Bovine have been so sparse lately, one contributing factor may be the editor’s pre-occupation with a controversy closer to home. The Toronto Waldorf School (TWS) has not figured much on the Bovine to date, although the school’s parking lot was, until a few years ago, the meeting place for contact with farm-share members in the city. And although we’ve never mentioned it, many of the Glencolton farm-share or cowshare members have in some way been connected with the school, either as parents or faculty.

Raw milk “Godfather” in court Feb. 5th

We haven’t heard any news from Michael Schmidt in what seems like ages. But now, out of the blue, here’s  a story in his hometown paper, giving updates on several of his pending court proceedings. From the Owen Sound Sun Times:

Raw milk Godfather Michael Schmidt at his farm. Photo via Owen Sound Sun Times.

DURHAM – Durham raw milk advocate Michael Schmidt will seek at the Court of Appeal for Ontario Feb. 5 to overturn convictions for distribution and sale of raw milk in 2006.

The appeal relates to Schmidt’s cow-share raw milk operation at the time in which shareholders received raw milk from his Glencolton Farms near Durham.