Illinois tries to make raw milk illegal

From the Midlife Farm Wife:

Raw milk in Illinois. Photo via Midlife Farm Wife

UPDATED MARCH 31, 7:50AM: “Now grab a big cup of coffee or raw milk or Pepsi or whatever YOU as an American choose to drink and settle in for some very disturbing raw milk updates. If you follow me on Facebook this post is both a recap of the events of the last 3 days as well as essential action steps needed RIGHT NOW.

When I last posted just 4 days ago I informed you of IDPH’s back handed work with the proposed rules and regulations now making their way through that department. Less than 24 hours after that post I was informed by a Springfield contact, that House Representative Daniel Burke was sponsoring HB 4036 Amendment # 1 that would make all sales of raw milk in Illinois illegal.

Left-Right Coalition Backs Bill to Allow Interstate Raw Milk Sales in America

While some states allow raw milk sales and others don’t, the seemingly arbitrary prohibition on interstate raw milk sales has been contentious for some time. In an episode of what looks surprisingly much like good government, American legislators are actually getting together across party lines to act in the interests of people rather than corporations. Good for them. And good for America. We could do with more of that.

Thomas Massie. Frame grab from C-Span via wn.com

From Bill Marler’s Food Safety News:

“A left-right libertarian coalition led by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is sponsoring two bills in Congress to permit the interstate sales of raw milk. Massie says the bills are but the first in a series of “food freedom” measures he plans to introduce. One would overturn the interstate ban on raw milk, while the other would permit interstate shipment of raw milk only if two states already permitted intrastate sale.

Raw milk vending machines in Europe

Every once in a while it’s good to remind ourselves that there’s another world out there across the ocean, a world where raw milk is not seen as a health hazard, and where it’s freely and legally available to people who want it. What a concept. We could do with some of that in North America.

From The Modern Farmer:

A raw milk vending machine in France. Image courtesy of blogger yeractual of polesapart.blogspot.com. via The Modern Farmer

“Europe’s embrace of raw milk vending machines isn’t new. Such daring dispensers of unpasteurized dairy can be found in France, Croatia, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and, as one map shows, all over the place in Italy. In a recent post for TakePart, Rebecca McCray, a Fulbright fellow studying the criminal justice system in Slovenia, digs into the story behind one such machine outside Ljubljana.

Court won’t stop the flow of raw milk

While most of the media outlets in the country ran the Canadian Press boilerplate, Jeffrey Carter at The Western Producer, dug a little deeper:

Michael Schmidt (left) raises the traditional toast of raw milk during a celebratory gathering of friends after the Court of Appeal proceedings in Toronto, February 2014.

“DRESDEN, Ont. — A court decision last week hasn’t put an end to Michael Schmidt’s raw milk business.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld an Ontario Court of Justice ruling from three years ago that said Schmidt’s “cow-share” scheme was not a legitimate way to circumvent the province’s Health Protection and Promotion Act, which prohibits the sale, delivery and distribution of unpasteurized milk and cream.

TVO’s Steve Paikin looks at what it will take to get raw milk onto the market in Ontario — that’s tonight, March 25th

From TVO:

Raw milk is on Steve Paikin’s agenda tonight

“March 25, 2014 Food Fears?

After two decades of genetically modified crops, fears persist. The Agenda examines if those fears are justified. And, what will it take to see raw milk brought to market in Ontario?

Genetically Modified at 20

As the 20th anniversary of GMOs in Canada approaches, what have we learned in two decades? Are we any closer to scientifically proving whether GMOs are safe or harmful to our health? The Agenda examines why this issue still remains such a polarizing force.

Arthur Hill: Getting to a Raw Milk Deal

Ontario dairy farmer Michael Schmidt recently lost his legal appeal to overturn his 2011 conviction for selling raw milk. Is he getting a raw deal or is there a way to getting to a raw milk deal? The Agenda examines what it will take to get raw milk to market.”

Weeknights at 8 pm and 11 pm on the TVO television channel.

Celebrating 20 yrs of Michael Schmidt’s struggle for raw milk freedom and food rights in the province of Ontario

It’s been 20 years since the first Grey-Bruce County health department raids on farmer Michael Schmidt over raw milk in 1994. To mark the occasion some friends held a party for Michael Schmidt last Saturday. This poem was from one of the presentations:

Raw Milk Sting

Poet Judith McGill with Michael Schmidt and friends at a party last Saturday to celebrate 20 years of the struggle for raw milk access and food rights in Ontario.

A poem by Judith McGill

We’ve known for some time through surveillance cameras

The comings and goings

of the bovine milk runners

the corridors they transverse

under the cloak of darkness

We know how they enter and deliver the stuff in its purest form

Then proceed silently back to the sunlit fields where it is grown in abundance

We have seen them fertilize the crop and then carry it under their coats to him

We know how it is stored in large vats and packaged in litre jars with white lids

A right relationship to sentient beings — humane lives for our farm animals

Mother cow with newborn calf at Glencolton Farms. Photos by Michael Schmidt.

Driving north last weekend, I was thinking about how, sadly, our society disrespects agricultural animals. In particular, I was reflecting on how our food system manipulates and harms animals in order that people can have soft, tender or plump meat. We grab milk from the grocery store shelf without considering the countless growth hormones given to, and shortened lifespan of, conventional dairy cows.

Michael Schmidt vows to take raw milk fight to the Supreme Court — CBC news

From The Canadian Press via CBC news:

Michael Schmidt talks to a reporter during a recess in his 2011 court appearance, in Newmarket Ontario following which his landmark 2010 acquittal was overturned by Justice Tetley, on appeal from the province of Ontario. Today’s ruling upholds Justice Tetley’s decsision on the legality of raw milk.

“A farmer who has spent two decades fighting for the right to sell unpasteurized milk to willing buyers pledged to take his case to the country’s highest court Tuesday after losing an appeal against his conviction for breaking public health laws.

Speaking minutes after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling, an unbowed Michael Schmidt said he would continue with his milk operation and legal battle.

“Nothing really changes for me,” Schmidt told The Canadian Press.

“Our plan is to move right to the Supreme Court. That’s the bottom line. We’re not stopping here.”

In its ruling, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a 2011 conviction against Schmidt that saw him fined $9,150 under provincial health-protection laws.

Ontario does not ban the consumption of raw milk and farmers are allowed to drink the milk produced by their own cows. However, the sale of unprocessed milk is banned on the grounds that it poses a significant risk to public health.

Raw milk still illegal in Ontario says Ontario Court of Appeal in decision announced today, March 11, 2014

Raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt talks to a Radio Canada reporter last month during a break in the appeal hearing at Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto. Today the judges announced their dismissal of Mr. Schmidt’s appeal, meaning that his 2011 conviction still stands.

The panel of three judges who heard farmer Michael Schmidt’s appeal last month, of his 2011 conviction by Justice Tetley on raw milk related charges, has now announced their dismissal of Mr. Schmidt’s appeal. The full text of their decision can be found at this link: http://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions_index/new_releases.htm

The judges’ dismissal of Mr. Schmidt’s appeal means that the 2011 conviction by Justice Tetley still stands.

Raw milk appeal ruling later today

From Michael Schmidt:

Tuesday March the 11th at 10.30 am the Ontario Court of Appeal will render the ruling of the three judges in the longstanding, long lasting raw milk case, which started 1994 here in Ontario.

I have reported over the years on many statistics comparing the difference in death rates of various activities.

The most striking one is smoking, which on the one hand creates an enormous amount of tax revenue but on the other hand also burdens health care dramatically.

There are approximately 2.1 million smokers in Ontario. According to the GOVERNMENT 1 in 3 will die from smoking.