“Fresh Milk, Food Politics” summary

From Hella Delicious  on yesterday’s conference in Vancouver:

Michael Schmidt at yesterday’s “Fresh Milk, Food Rights”. Click image for more photos.

“Michael Schmidt who Jackie called “Our stubborn German” was up next and he gave us some of his personal background with growing up with the rise of the Nazis and his history of interaction with the various Canadian health authorities who raided his farm, sent in undercover spies to join his cowshare and more. He stressed again how important it is to remember that even these government officals who seem to think they can mindlessly hide behind the excuse that they are “just doing their jobs” are still human underneath it all.

Go ask Alice — interview with BC raw milk pioneer Alice Jongerden, who will speak at the “Fresh Milk, Food Politics” symposium on April 6th, in Vancouver

Michael Schmidt, Alice Jongerden, at a rally in BC November 2, 2011. Photo by Tirra Del Giudice. Click image for more pictures from that event.

The Bovine: There’s a major raw milk symposium in Vancouver April 6th and you’re one of the speakers, Alice. Could you tell us a little about what you’re going to be sharing with the participants at that event?

Alice Jongerden: I will be sharing my story and discussing the Challenges of Farming, Losing the Family Farm, and what is needed to bring it back and how that can be done.  Also highlighting herdshares, and why they make sense.

The Bovine: Perhaps you could start by telling us how you personally got interested in raw milk, and how that interest led to you becoming agister for the original “Home on the Range” cowshare farm in Chilliwack.

Cosmetic use of milk goes way back

From Hella Delicious:

Image: Rare mosaic etching by IREL. Click for details

“…Cleopatra is renowned for being an incredibly beautiful woman, many people put this down to her habit of bathing in fermented mares’ milk and modern research has discovered the benefits of lactic acid on cleansing skin and smoothing wrinkles. One thing that is not generally stressed when mentioning Cleopatra is that she was also a brilliant strategist on many levels.

GMO labeling bill in Connecticut

From Hella Delicious:

“….The state of Connecticut was on the eve of a historic vote. With 90% of Connecticut residents in favor of GMO labeling, pre-vote tallies indicating that a bi-partisan majority of legislators were in favor of the bill, and an unprecedented awareness of GMOs in CT, everything seemed to be falling into place for CT HB 5117, An Act Concerning Genetically Engineered Food.

Unfortunately, in a devastating turn of events, before the bill had a chance to make it to the floor for debate and a vote, in a closed door meeting, Governor Malloy and his attorneys interfered in the legislative process by removing Section 2 of the bill. Section 2 was the heart of the bill, the section that called for mandatory labeling of all products produced with the process of genetic engineering, leaving HB 5117 meaningless. Governor Malloy chose to put the interests of the monstrous biotech industry in front of the rights of the people of Connecticut.

Bureaucrats and Other Pesky Critters on the Road to Food Freedom

From Michael McCarty, in the Activist Post:

Photo of Howard Beale via Hella Delicious blog. Click image to go there.

“For a couple of years or so I have been investigating the legal issues that relate to the rights of an individual to grow and sell meat, poultry, and other homegrown farm products directly to consumers. What would be the problem, you might ask? You can grow or raise, and sell, what you want to sell, right? We live in a free country, with free and open markets, do we not?

Well, not so fast. Being the rather cautious person that I am, I began some time ago to ask questions of people working in a long list of local, state, and federal government agencies that hold jurisdiction over the land, and of us. It has been a painful, core shaking inquiry that is not for the faint of heart. I certainly have not enjoyed the experience.

Cellphone dangers, anecdotal evidence

Timely health intel from the Hella Delicious blog:

“Your bra is not the place to keep your cellphone. Dr John West MD Founding director of Breast Care and Imaging Centre of Orange County tells us why:

I had an interesting experience recently when giving a craniosacral therapy session to a woman who had just come back from a doctor’s appointment. In passing she mentioned it was a mammogram. It didn’t register with me until later when I was completely wiped out and developed an unusual rash on my chest that I put the two together. [When doing a deeply resonant therapy it is best not to work on someone who has just been radiated–note to self!] I have been uncovering more and more information lately demonstrating that low frequency EMFs are especially damaging to breasts and gonads. No wonder we have an epidemic of both breast and prostate cancer!

Raw milk as a sacrament

From Hella Delicious:

Image by Alex Grey via Hella D.

“There are various other definitions of sacrament, I like this one because it makes me think of the gut-friendly micro-organisms that grow in milk–uniquely active indeed. This is a post I have been putting off writing and I understand why. I am not sure if I can quite capture what I want to say here, but I have to give it a shot.

Sacrament: A rite in which God (or gods) is (are) uniquely active. -Hexam’s Concise Dictionary of Religion

The fact that many cultures around the world traditionally have a sacred bond between the animal (sheep, cow, goat, yak etc) and the fresh milk that animal produces is an aspect of the importance of farm fresh raw milk that sometimes gets left behind these days. We often get caught up in reacting to all the legal nonsense the various agencies keep throwing at us.

Food Freedom Day Vancouver rally

Thanks to Hella D for these photos:

What an original sign.

How to protect yourself from radiation

From the Hella Delicious blog:

Fukushima Japan -- site of recent and probably continuing radiation release

I’m really worried about the levels of radiation and the situation in Japan. The sad thing is there are already high levels of radiation in our world–higher than they were ten years ago at any rate. They come from increased use of cellphones, wireless networks, electrical equipment, medical equipment and other things.

Raw cheese maker = “bacteria farmer”

From Jeanne Carpenter at the Cheese Underground:

“At a conference last week discussing how to differentiate Wisconsin cheese through “taste of place” (the U.S. version of French “terroir”), I heard quite possibly the best description that could ever be given to a cheesemaker.

Bacteria farmer.

The title rolled off the tongue of Ivan Larcher, a French cheesemaker and consultant, who via Skype from France, provided a 45-minute talk encouraging raw milk cheesemakers interested in crafting cheeses that reflect the flavors of their farms to also start cultivating their own starter cultures.