“It’s milk, Jim, but not as we know it”

Thursday’s story about the raw milk vending machines in Poland attracted quite a lot of interest among Bovine readers. In fact it was the top story of the week with 1,383 page views as of Sunday morning. Which brings us ’round to today’s article, which likewise deals with raw milk vending machines, but this time in England. You may remember there was a bit of flap over there recently about a big store which had the temerity to install such a machine in one of its London stores. Well here’s more news arising from that self-same machine, which seems to still be dispensing raw milk, right there in the heart of London. And perhaps surprisingly, from a North American perspective, the London Bobbies don’t seem to have their knickers in a knot over that simple fact of life:

From Tom Parker Bowles on The Mail Online UK:

The Times' caption for this picture reads like advertising copy for raw milk: "The first taste is a revelation, rich, bounteous and fulsome"

“The machine, nearly 6ft of solid, gleaming steel, sits just to the left of Oddono’s ice cream in London’s Selfridges. And is a mere Tunworth’s roll from the groaning cheese counter.  Which seems entirely apt, as this magnificent monolith dispenses milk, the heart and soul of them both. But this is no run-of-the-mill dairy dullard; it’s a repository of raw, unpasteurised milk from Sussex – buxom, beguiling cowgirl rather than joyless, emaciated waif.

Plug in a few nuggets, put your glass bottle under the spout and out pours a whole litre of foaming, cream-rich delight.  The first taste is a revelation, rich, bounteous and fulsome, like tasting real milk for the very first time.  It’s impeccably clean and fresh, whipping through the mouth with lactic élan, and leaving nothing behind save a lingering, luscious sigh.  It’s milk, Jim, but not as we know it.  

Raw milk in Poland — interview with a Polish raw milk vending machine maker

Polish raw milk vending machine manufacturer Konrad Pszowski came to our attention through comments he posted on the Bovine. We thought, as a maker of raw milk automats, he could fill us in a little on the under-reported raw milk scene in Europe. So we contacted him. He wrote back, and we sent him some questions. And now we are pleased to present his answers in the form of this exclusive interview:

Raw milk vending machine in an urban setting in eastern Europe.

The Bovine:  When I was in Poland in 2007, one could drive along the highway from Warsaw to Bialystock and see people milking cows into buckets out in the field. Also one would sometimes pass horse-drawn hay wagons on the smaller roads. Is there a strong feeling among Poles that smalll farming is something that should be encouraged, that it’s here to stay and not on the way out like it is in so many other parts of the world?

Poland’s agriculture minister calls for a Europe-wide ban on GMO cultivation

From the “News from Poland” website:

Poland's president vetoes a new law on GMO seeds, calls it legal junk. Click for source.

“We are now proposing to completely prohibit not only the cultivation of GM plants, but also imports of feed and food that is genetically modified,” Minister Marek Sawicki told TVP public television.

“And not just in Poland,” he added.

Poland’s raw milk ban — Sir Julian Rose

From Kimberly Hartke’s blog:

“Sometime within the last 18 months, Polish schools switched from serving un-homogenized, pasteurized milk to UHT (ultra-high temperature) pasteurized and homogenized milk.

According to today’s guest blogger, unpasteurised milk (otherwise known as raw or farm fresh milk) is, by some quirk of justice, banned in Poland; the only country in Europe (apart from Scotland) to do this. Everyone in Poland who lives near a farm or near someone with a house cow, has access to it anyway, so the ban only affects towns people.

“Organic farming has sold out and lost its way” — Sir Julian Rose

Here’s an excerpt from a recent story on The Ecologist blog. Thanks to Gordon Watson for drawing it to our attention:

BBC photo of Sir Julian Rose. Click on picture to go to the BBC web-page this photo is from.

“The dreams of the early organic pioneers have been subsumed into a rush for global supply chains, strict regulations and fast-selling brands

Back in 1975, when I first started converting my farm to organic agriculture, there were no standards for production and no rule book.

Poland won’t order vaccines unless Pharma companies accept liability

That’s unlike other countries like Canada and the U.S. where governments have absolved companies in advance for any damage claims resulting from untested H1N1 vaccines. Here’s an excerpt from the report on Jane Burgermeister’s “The Flu Case” website. Video below, from Health Ranger Mike Adams, is not directly related to this story, although it is about the flu and the vaccine.

“The Polish Health Minister and family doctor Ewa Kopacz has said she will only sign a contract for the swine flu jabs if pharmaceutical companies agree to accept liability and take responsibility for paying compensation in the even that the vaccines cause damage or death.

“I will sign only when pharamceutical companies take responsibility of the vaccines.I guarantee it,” Kopacz is reported to have said on Polish TV.

The unwillingness of the pharmaceutical companies to accept any liability for their vaccines has fuelled fears that they are well aware of how pontentially damaging these jabs are, especially for children and pregnant women, and have positioned themselves in advance to avoid claims.

Martial law in Ukraine — Austria next?

This just in, from Jane Burgermeister’s “The Flu Case”:

A mysterious plague-like flu has recently been afflicting the people of the Ukraine. Photo of Ukrainian Prime Minister Julia Timoschenko via Swine Flu Watch blog.

“On a cold, overcast December afternoon in 2004, I briefly met the Viktor Yuschenko, the Ukrainian President.

He had been treated for poisoning at a hospital in Döbling and when he was released, he held a press conference surrounded by doctors and attended by scores of journalists.

Yuschenko stood there barely saying a word, looking haggard and with a bluish pallor: his face was pock marked and his hair was an unnatural colour; his eyes were full of mistrust and fear even though the private Rudolfinerhaus clinic held few threats.

Five years on, this shattered looking individual, who was once the head of a pro democracy movement, is about to proclaim himself a dictator.

In 1999, 35 million small family plots produced 90% of Russia’s potatoes, 77% of vegetables, 87% of fruits, 59% of meat, 49% of milk — way to go, people!

And since 1999, it seems things have only gotten better when it comes to small-scale agriculture in Russia. 

A Russian family by their Dascha, or family plot

In 2003 the Russian President signed into law a further “Private Garden Plot Act” enabling Russian citizens to receive free of charge from the state, plots of land in private inheritable ownership. Sizes of the plots differ by region but are between one and three hectares each [1 hectare = 2.2 acres]. Produce grown on these plots is not subject to taxation. A further subsequent law to facilitate the acquisition of land for gardening was passed in June 2006. (according to a footnote in “Who We Are” by Vladimir Megre, pg. 42)

What other country raises so much of their food in such sustainable, organic, and non-GMO modes of production? While the European Union is setting the stage for agribusiness takeovers of major market share from traditional peasant farmers in places like Poland, Russia seems to be one of the few countries on the global stage moving so clearly in a sustainable and healthy direction.

“Clearance” of Polish peasant farmers makes way for the Smithfields of this world — will E.U.-style methods be coming soon to a country near you?

During the clearances of the 18th and 19th century vast numbers of small tenant farmers were kicked off the land in Scotland and sent packing to the cities where they had little choice but to seek work in factories or emigrate to the new world. Meanwhile their former lands were amalgamated and used for large-scale sheep herding.

Helena Master milks a cow in Stryszow, Poland. Photo: Rafal Klimkiewicz for The New York Times

 

It seems that the gesture of “the clearances” is echoed in recent efforts in Poland to get rid of small peasant farmers and “rationalize” agriculture into large monoculture enterprises. We bring you excerpts from a recent report from Julien Rose which takes a close look at recent events on the Polish agricultural scene. This report is from the Institute for Science in Society website where it is titled “The Battle to Save the Polish Countryside“. The Polish situation is particularly interesting in that many Poles seem to have a good grasp of just what is at stake in this particular battle and Poland, as a nation, has a long history of warding off would-be tyrannies.

But first, lets have a look at this April 2008 story from the New York Times “Old Ways, New Pain for farms in Poland“, by Elizabeth Rosenthal:

“STRYSZOW, Poland —Depending on your point of view, Szczepan Master is either an incorrigible Luddite or a visionary. A small farmer, proud of his pure high-quality products, he works his land the way Polish farmers have for centuries.

Polish farmers hunger strike over GMOs

When I visited Poland during the summer of 2007 I was encouraged to see that Polish agriculture was still functioning on a small local scale. I saw a cow being milking in a field into a pail and hay being transported along the road in a horse-drawn wagon. I visited a few farmers markets and bought produce there. I was thrilled to hear that the Polish government had taken a strong stand against allowing GMO crops into the country. But now, it seems that stand is wavering. Here’s the latest news we have on the situation in Poland, from OrganicConsumers.org:

Polish farmers seem to be under no illusions as to what's at stake with the introduction of GMOs.

“Edyta Jaroszewska, 42 year old organic farmer and the chairperson of the Organic Farmers Association, started hunger strike against GMO cultivation in front of Ministry of Agriculture, Warsaw, Poland two days ago.
Two days ago Danuta Pilarska, another organic farmer and chairperson of  The Organic Farmer’s Union, joined her. Yesterday, both women, together with other members of the Coalition for a GMO Free Poland, joined a meeting of the Polish government’s Agricultural Committee in the Senate in Warsaw. The committee was discussing the future of GMO in Poland.

After a few hours of debate Edyta concluded “There’s no political will within the Polish government to stop corporations from illegal planting of the GM maize variety MON 810 – and to ensure that Poland is kept GMO free. This opens the possibility of the widespread planting of MON 810 during this year. So we don’t have another choice other than to stay here and fight!”