B.C. raw milk trial news roundup

Raw-milk activist Michael Schmidt arrives for contempt of court charges at B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on February 13, 2013. Photo by: NICK PROCAYLO , PNG – Click pic for story.

From David E. Gumpert on The Complete Patient blog:

“I had contact with both Schmidt and Watson as the trial wrapped up, and they were encouraged that the judge allowed the trial to go on for six days instead of the scheduled three days, and seemed genuinely interested in the freedom-of-speech and other aspects of the defense. The prosecution seemed unnerved by all the judge’s questions and his decisions to allow pretty much all evidence the defense wanted to introduce. Unfortunately, a decision isn’t expect for at least three months, the judge indicated….”

More on the Complete Patient blog.

And from the Canadian Consumer Raw Milk Advocacy Group:

“More details coming, but we just received news that the raw milk trial is now over.  And the result is that the judge is withholding judgement until after the BC election.  Now isn’t that an interesting political position!

Raw milk drinkers in BC – now is the time to phone or email your MLA and ask them to support a change in BC raw milk laws….”

More on the Canadian Consumer Raw Milk Advocacy Group blog.

From Hella Delicious:

“After hearing Fraser Health lawyer badgering Michael Schmidt for over an hour mainly abut him being an owner of Our Cows as well as whether raw milk was the only ingredient in the cosmetic. I understood why Gordon Watson later stated he preferred not to take the stand. The Fraser Health lawyer likes to get rabid, Michael sure took a lot of flack for us Our Cows members for us this morning. I must say I was pretty glad I wasn’t the one sitting in that witness box. One interesting thing she kept insisting was that Michael Schmidt had never told Fraser Health that he was not the owner. Both Mr Shum and Mr Rice had stated in their testimonies that they had been given the corporate structure of Our Cows and CowShare BC (but they hadn’t bothered to actually look through it).

At some point the Judge got really pissed off and told Watson to sit down. It is still hard to tell what he (Judge Wong) thinks of it all, sometimes he seems like he will see it all with an open mind, sometimes I wonder if he will throw us a curve ball. He seems to be a guy who takes justice seriously and he really does seem to genuinely be appreciative of the fact that Gordon Watson is representing himself, so I find that to be a good sign.

Beech (Fraser Health) brought up the topic of Watson being seen publically drinking raw milk, which it turns out was raw milk brought in from Washington state so it had nothing to do with the cowshare. A question was also raised as to whether Watson was currently a member of Our Cows or not.

Beech was soon back to badgering Schmidt as to whether he is the owner of Our Cows or not. This all just seems rather nuts to all of us since it has been explained on many occasion that all of the members are the owners and Michael Schmidt is there as a consultant and liason for us and has no legal connection to the cows whatsoever….”

More on Hella Delicious blog.

From Jennifer Saltman, in The Province (same story as the lead picture is from):

“A Chilliwack dairy farm’s claim that it is distributing raw milk products as cosmetics is “a ruse,” a Fraser Health lawyer argues.

“This is not really about cosmetics,” Susan Beach told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Randall Wong Wednesday. “It’s all about raw milk and raw milk advocacy.”

The health authority was in a New Westminster courtroom asking that Michael Schmidt and Gordon Watson, who are agisters at the dairy, be held in civil contempt of court.

In January 2010, Fraser Health sought a permanent injunction against Home On The Range and its agister — a person who takes care of livestock — Alice Jongerden for producing and distributing raw milk products.

The dairy operates a cow share, with about 450 households jointly owning the herd of 25 cows and receiving dividends in the form of raw milk….”

Read more in The Province.

The Province story is one of the few examples of coverage of this story that we’ve seen in mainstream media. If readers are aware of other examples, please post links in the comments. Thanks, – ED.

Raw milk family’s day in court in B.C.

From the Hella Delicious blog:

Image of Michael Schmidt and Gordon Watson via Hella Delicious blog

“Just got back from the New Westminster courthouse. Our cowshare family spent a loving day together listening to the interactions between the lawyers, judge, Gordon Watson and witnesses over what seems to be unravelling as a case of malicious intent on the part of Fraser Health against this private local community of people who enjoy owning a lovingly cared for and properly fed cow.

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!

Top six food blogs — The Bovine’s pick

Like the choices in the post linked to below, these selections are bound to be biased by what we look for in a blog. Sorry if we’ve overlooked your blog through our narrowsightedness. Obviously a list of six favourite blogs is not going to be anywhere near exhaustive of all the great food blogs out there. See our blogroll for all the blogs we consider worth including. Readers are invited to add their own suggestions of favourite food blogs in the comments:

1. The Complete Patient — No one covers the raw milk food politics beat as thoroughly as David E. Gumpert. Original material, first rate journalism, and insight born of persistence and hard won familiarity with the game, and the players, in raw milk and food rights, in North America.

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2. Hella Delicious Food —  provides great coverage of the British Columbia raw milk scene as well as other enlightening food related stories. The author has lived in a lot of places and has the perspective to show for it. She brings a lot of spiritual and cultural insight into her writing. Hella’s blog also gets top marks for graphic design and interactive functionality.

Abkhanasian centenarians’ milk culture

From Hella Delicious:

Map via Hella Delicious

The Abkhasians had a way of life that is out of reach for modern man, or so it seems! One of the arguments that is often used to promote modern medical technology (vaccinations etc) is that we are living to be much older than we used to. I must point out that even with all of our advanced medical technology, we still haven’t managed to extend our lives, with most of our faculties (including sexual vigor!) still intact, as long as the Abkhasians or other long-living peoples (110-130 yrs) managed to do without any of our medical intervention.

This book (Abkhasians The Long-Living People of the Caucasus), by Sula Benet, who was born in Warsaw, Poland and later got her PhD at Columbia, is a very comprehensive anthropological study of the Abkhasians culture. I’ve been curious about centenarians ever since I wrote my first paper in Culinary School years ago.

Fraser Health smear campaign against B.C. raw milk and Home on the Range

From Hella Delicious blog:

A glimpse inside the Our Cows raw milk cosmetics operation in Chilliwack B.C.. Photo via Hella D.

“This letter was sent to the Editor of Burnaby Now, to set straight some of the disinformation that Fraser Health has been slinging about in order to strike fear into our hearts of good, local, homegrown raw milk.

Focus on raw milk — Q&A from “Milk War” movie debut in Vancouver B.C.

Hella Delicious reports on the Vancouver debut of the “Milk War” movie:

Director Declan O'Driscoll and farmer Alice Jongerden. Click image to go to Hella D. blog for video.

“Excerpts from the Question and Answer session with Alice Jongerden and Declan O’Driscoll after the screening of Milk War in Vancouver, BC. Gives the history of the pasteurisation laws in Canada, some of the differences between BC and Ontario, how Home on the Range cowshare got started and why Alice can’t milk the cows at present.

Speak up on GMO testing bill C-474

Urgent ag news from Hella Delicious:

“Bill C-474 is a private members bill that, if passed, will require market impact assessment of any new GMO crop sold in Canada. It will be debated for the third and final time on Feb 8 and the vote will be held on Feb.9. Please write letters to and encourage your friends to also write to let Parliament know how you feel about this. More info about the Bill is posted at www.cban.ca.

Here is a sample letter you can copy and paste into your email program to send to your own MP and also to key decision-makers in the Liberal Party (they are sitting on the fence). For your information, here is the list of MPs. You can find your own MP by entering your postal code….”

Full details and sample letter on Hella’s blog.

“Go ask Alice” — controversial B.C. raw milk agister sheds some light on the Home on the Range / Our Cows story

Hella Delicious has the scoop:

Alice Jongerden. Photo via Hella D

“I had the opportunity to have dinner with Alice Jongerden, and she told me some of how she came to be our cow’s caretaker. She originally started with just one cow because she wanted fresh milk for her kids.

Unfortunately, that cow was dry and she didn’t get any milk. After a while she decided to sell the cow and get another one. This one gave too much milk. Soon she had milk coming out her ears and started sharing their cow with other people.

More people started coming and asking Alice to milk their cows for them as well, soon Alice had to ask another family to help out with caring for the member’s cows. After about a year they decided to find a location for all the cows to be together.