“Final standoff has begun” says raw milk farmer Michael Schmidt, of latest court injunctions received this week

From Bayshore Broadcasting, Thurs. Jan. 28th, 2016:

“Durham area raw milk producer Michael Schmidt has received two injunction notices from York Region and the Attorney General on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural affairs.

Schmidt says the blanket injunctions name himself, his wife and son — as well as any “John Doe” producing and distributing raw milk in Ontario.

He says it would basically make it a crime for any farmer in the province to hand over raw milk to a neighbour and he plans to fight the injunctions in a Newmarket court March 16th.

Michael Schmidt has been fighting for the right to distribute raw milk for roughly 2 decades and says it feels like “the final standoff has begun.”…”

Read more of the story on Bayshore Broadcasting, which is so far the only media outlet that seems to be reporting it.

The 2016 Guelph Raw Milk Symposium takes place this afternoon, Jan. 30th, starting at 1 pm. A TV Ontario production crew was planning to attend.

Food rights declaration signing Nov. 26

QUEENS PARK, TORONTO: An estimated 80-some food rights supporters converged on Queen’s Park for a rally and food rights declaration signing today. Elisa and Michael Schmidt started things off by speaking briefly about recent developments in the ongoing raw milk saga.

Michael Schmidt speaks to the crowd, prior to the signing of today’s Food Rights Declaration, flanked by his wife Elisa and farm share member Mascha Perrone. Nov. 26th, at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Michael then read the text of the Food Rights Declaration, which was also printed on both sides of the milk truck, which had been brought to Queen’s Park for the occasion. After that, folks were invited to sign both a smaller copy of the declaration to be presented to Premier Wynn and then the large copy on the side of the truck.

Michael Schmidt breaks radio silence with first public interview in months

Michael Schmidt has been conspicuous by his absence from the raw milk and food rights scene for quite some months now. Instead of traveling the continent as keynote speaker at conferences, he quietly tends to his cows and avoids the limelight — which leads many to wonder what is up with the mystery man. Fortunately, for those who have been wondering, this recent self-interview from Michael sheds a little light on some of the latest developments in Michael’s long, and still continuing, work in the fields of raw milk and food rights.

A rather rare interview with Michael Schmidt:

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Associate Dean, University of Guelph, the only scientist who openly said that change should and can happen if the DFO would have the courage and the political will to tackle the raw milk issue. Marie-Chantal Houde, farmer and cheese maker from Quebec, Michael Schmidt

M:

It was hard to track you down and convince you to sit down for a one on one interview with yourself, why?

Michael:

There are several reasons for the withdrawal from the public view.

The last 8 years have been very intense and dominated by the legal battles in Ontario, BC and Alberta regarding raw milk.

Besides all the legal challenges I had a lot of speaking engagements in the US, Europe and here in Canada.

This was necessary in order to raise the awareness in regards to the loss of our fundamental right to make an informed and educated choice.

I am sure I made my point.

Local Market Food Policy for Manitoba

From Colin Anderson, on Sustain Ontario:

“…Agriculture policy in Manitoba has historically focused on large-scale export commodity production. However, the growing popular interest in local, sustainable food is prompting the province to take a second look at supporting local food systems to improve economy, health and food security.

The message coming from the grassroots is clear: farmers, fishers, processors and citizens are demanding a say in policy-making and have formed a coalition under the banner of FEAST (Farmers and Eaters Sharing the Table) to encourage the Province to support local sustainable food.

The Farmer and the Government

From The Dean of Tea:

Michael Schmidt handcuffed by police during a non-violent protest over a dump that was to be established over a major aquifer in Simcoe County, Ontario a few years ago. The protest was successful. Plans to build the dump were scrapped in light of community opposition.

Last month, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of Durham, Ontario farmer and raw milk advocate Michael Schmidt. The court’s decision found that Schmidt’s cow-share program does not exempt him from regulations concerning the sale and distribution of unpasteurized milk. Schmidt has vowed to take his case to the Supreme Court.

Toronto’s Rachel Parent talks GMOs tonight, Ed Show, MSNBC, 5:15 EST

From Rachel Parent on Facebook:

Rachel sez: BREAKING NEWS !! RACHEL ON THE ED SHOW ! TONIGHT 5.15 PM EST, MSNBC. DON’T MISS IT, PLEASE LET EVERYONE KNOW!

“Rawsome” co-founder is in Baraboo for the Vernon Hershberger raw milk trial

Here’s the message Rawsome foods co-founder Aajonus Vonderplanitz sent out to people on his email list recently in connection with the Hershberger trial. Presumably, this represents his own views on the case, and the issues around it:

“Hi, healthy-food lovers,

I am in Baraboo, Wisconsin immersed in a real-life satirical trial, droning with irony. The trial is the persecution of our dedicated and brave farmer Vernon Hershberger. This jury trial is about food-safety but the judge ruled that food-safety cannot be discussed in the trial. The charges are about contaminated RAW MILK but the judge ruled that raw milk cannot be discussed in the trial.

Governments do not want a true and factual hearing on raw milk in this Hershberger-case because their raw-milk junk-science would not hold to rational jurors minds. Thankfully, we have four very good attorneys representing Vernon that are working diligently for him/us in the midst of outrageous and incoherent courtroom injustices. Of the first 2 days of trial, I estimate that the judge has illogically ruled 65% for the irrational requests of the State and 35% for rational requests of Vernon. Fair trial?

U.S. State Department is promoting biotech and GMOs around the world

From Wenonah Hauter in The Guardian UK:

“If you have a feeling that genetically modified (GM) foods are being forced upon the population by a handful of business interests and vociferously defended by the scientists that work in the agriculture industry or at the research institutions it funds, you might be onto something.

The zeal with which GM proponents evangelize transgenic seeds (and now, transgenic food animals) is so extreme that they are even pouring vast sums of money to defeat popular efforts to simply label GE foods – like the nearly $50m spent to defeat the popular 2012 ballot measure to label GE foods in California, Proposition 37.

When governments abandon the public interest — look out for your own health

From Helke Ferrie, in Vitality Magazine:

Our Constitution guarantees that the laws, from which our government derives its mandate, shall work in the “public interest.” In actuality, this mandate is mostly an experience of illusion for the public, because the government and its agencies prove to be chronically delusional. The difference between an illusion and a delusion is that an illusion is a misconception, sometimes based on deception; illusions are correctable through reality checks. A delusion, on the other hand, refers to a belief maintained despite contradictory proof. Delusional views and policies refuse to be confused by the facts.[1] Shedding illusions is the first step towards eliminating delusions. True, this is hard slogging, often painful, extremely frustrating, but unfailingly liberating. So, here we go!

So what’s the CFIA been up to lately?

Remember the CFIA, that official Canadian Food Inspection agency, that was so concerned about wiping out a flock of heritage Shropshire sheep a few weeks back? Well maybe that wasn’t such an isolated incident. What can we make of this latest development on the food safety front? Is this a real problem that’s being covered up? To protect what, short term business prospects of continuing to sell more salmon in the supermarkets? And for that, they’re willing to scupper the international credentials of a university science lab? Is this is a government agenda, rogue “regulators”, or what? Are we still living in Canada?

From Mark Hume, in the Globe and Mail:

“A lab that revealed the first evidence of an infectious virus in British Columbia salmon should be stripped of its international credentials, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

In a letter to the World Organization for Animal Health, the CFIA urges the international agency to accept the findings of an independent audit that recommends “suspension of the reference laboratory status,” of the facility.

The lab is run by Frederick Kibenge at the Atlantic Veterinary College-University of Prince Edward Island.