farm raided for selling unpasteurized milk

[timouse]

TORONTO -- It was an early-morning drama with all the hallmarks of a big drug bust: Ontario Provincial Police cruisers blockading the lane while armed officers swooped onto a farm, herding the farmer and his workers into the kitchen of the old house.

But this dairy farmer was no drug kingpin. In the century-old barn of the farm northwest of London, Ont., were 30 cows and the stainless-steel equipment used for milking, separating the milk and manufacturing dairy products such as cheese and yogurt. And the contraband confiscated in last week's raid at Glencolton Farm consisted of dozens of glass jars of unpasteurized milk, fresh from the cow.

Michael Schmidt, a maverick dairy farmer who has openly provided raw milk to hundreds of families for more than a decade since his last brush with the law, faces a charge of operating a milk plant without a licence and could be slapped with more.

full story here.

niffermouse and i found out about this last week when we went to pick up our CSA basket (and jar of whole milk). our local farmers were nervous on account of the "raid."

the farmer, who was busted has been busted before, and has done many things since to improve his position in the event that they came after him.

rather than selling milk, he sells shares in a dairy cow, and each week provides you, the owner of the animal, with your completely legal whole milk. he has also had milk tested every two weeks, and had it come back fine every time.

they busted him for "...operating a milk plant without a license."

in talking with folks at work today, hardly anyone knew that it was illegal to buy whole milk...as sad as it is to see a small farmer popped for this, they couldn't have picked a more articulate spokesperson...

[nattyMatty]

I saw that on the new the other day. Sounds like he new what he was doing. Someone i know actually got picked up Hitch hiking in british columbia, With a so called unpasturized Goat milk consultant. It was a funny story i can't remember all of it. Thats all

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

That is too sad. Seems they had a real axe to grind with this guy.

Years ago when we were travelling in Java, CJ and I spent an afternoon climbing a mountain, worked up a hunger/thirst, and, long story short, ended up having milk sold straight from the cow (yes, we were really hungry and thirsty; yes, it was still warm). I think of it now as a "peak milk experience."

The rational part of me says adults don't need milk anyway, and the experiential part of me says that I get groggy and tired when I drink it now. Still, I can imagine why people would want untreated (if not untested) milk, and there's something weird about how they came after this guy.

I'm not sure where I was going with that....

[d_rawk]

It's crazy to the point that there is actually something of an underground milk market. Buying and selling (or even simply giving away) raw milk really does have a lot in common with buying and selling drugs what with the networks of trust that form around it.

If you own a cow directly, you are entitled to drink it, but you can't even share it with your spouse (at penalty of something like a fine of 5 grand). I know of some groups that have tried to set up 'cowshares' to get around that, but I don't think that has panned out.

The politics of milk! Who whoulda thunk.

[timouse]

It's crazy to the point that there is actually something of an underground milk market. Buying and selling (or even simply giving away) raw milk really does have a lot in common with buying and selling drugs what with the networks of trust that form around it.

If you own a cow directly, you are entitled to drink it, but you can't even share it with your spouse (at penalty of something like a fine of 5 grand). I know of some groups that have tried to set up 'cowshares' to get around that, but I don't think that has panned out.

The politics of milk! Who whoulda thunk.

schmidt did the "cowshares" thing to try and skirt the law, but still had his farm raided.

and fwiw, raw milk is harder to find than heady pot

i wonder how much the big dairies and the "milk marketing board" have to do with the laws against selling unpasteurized milk. follow the money...

[d_rawk]

A certain amount, I imagine. Part of it has to do with the economics and logistics of the National Milk Board and the requisite milk pooling. I think that Health Canada is quite right to say that it is too dangerous to allow for sale of raw milk under the conditions of most production in this country. Pasteurization has been such a failsafe that most milk is not produced under nearly the sanitary conditions you would want if you are were to drink it raw, and if you allow people to opt out of the milk board and the milk pooling, you certainly do create a bit of a threat to the established big dairy producers and those who maintain control of the market.

It doesn't seem to have been updated for awhile, but there were some negotiations happening with Health Canada documented over at Natural Milk. Sally Fallon from the Weston A. Price Foundation (an organization I'm pretty fond of) ended up becoming involved too, even though WAPF is usually more USA focused.

Somewhere I remember reading a transcript of one of the meetings with Health Canada, but I can't seem to find it on the website.

[MoMack]

Its not just the "raw" milk factor. Its the fact that these farms, at least in some cases, are very small and depending on where they are located they can't afford to fit within the testing/inspections etc.

I guess its a different issue - but on the same lines. And honestly - a guy like hte milk man there can't fuck up. If he did word woudl spread and he'd have no customers.

But back to what I was getting at. Out east there are no farmers because the small farms can't afford to keep regulated so its all corp farms or nothing. Scary thought.

Who's got my head e-coli brand mass produced shipped a million miles spinich?

[Jared]

what are the advantages of raw milk compared to the milk i buy at the store

[Tricky]

The need to preserve milk so that it can be supplied to the large urban areas in North America has led to almost all dairy products being pasteurized. This is also intended to destroy those bacteria in milk which might cause disease. The pasteurization process, however, heats milk to only 145 degrees F (62C) for thirty minutes or to 161F(72C) for fifteen seconds. As a result, some bacteria remain, and the very important question of viral growth in the milk is still subject for further study. Not only does pasteurization fail to destroy all the micro-organisms that are present, but it apparently alters the milk in such a way as to render it difficult to digest. This may be due to a partial alteration or denaturation of the protein in it.

In large protein molecules, the amino acid chain is coiled or bent into limbs; these in turn fold upon each other in intricate but very important ways. The folding and coiling is maintained by relatively weak bonds between the amino acids. These bonds must be strong as to make it rigid, for the huge protein molecules often depend for their function on the ability to change their shape. These delicate limbs which shift are very fragile, and heat alters them. Then the shape of the molecule is changed and its ability to function is impaired. This is called denaturing the protein, i.e., its basic nature is disrupted. If too many of the weak bonds are broken, the complex molecule collapses into a broken tangle which may present great difficulties for the digestive enzymes, which are hard put to "get a handle on it" so as to break it down. In this case, further heating may complete the denaturing to the point of breaking it in shorter chains, or even down to single amino acid links, in which case digestion is actually facilitated.

Dairy milk, when partially heated, (pasteurized), tends to coagulate into a tight mass when exposed to stomach acid....If you'd like any more info on milk, I had to do a huge project on pasteurization and how milk effects the human body...Either way pasteurization is not good for milk, but the complete boiling of it is.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

The guy's being interviewed on CBC 1 right now.

[paisley]

taste the dream

I've only eaten or drank rice milk (or rice cream, an ice cream substitute) for the the past 7 years now... no more athsma, less phlegm in general, no more nightmares of bloody nipples hooked up to milking robots (worked on a dairy farm for a short while)

try Rice Dream Cocoa Marble Fudge sometime... give a cow a break, you won't know the difference

Edited November 29, 2006 by Guest
the "g" in phlegm

[peipunk]

no more athsma, less phlem in general, no more nightmares of bloody nipples hooked up to milking robots (worked on a dairy farm for a short while)

I had to quote this, just because........wow, man, thats quite an image. Also don't forget the g in phlegm.

[Jared]

wow thats very interesting, does whole milk taste diffrent?

[paisley]

Also don't forget the g in phlegm.

thanks my brother... been so long since I had a problem with it, forgot how to spell it!

and yeah, the accompanying uncharacteristicly human-like scream/screech the cow makes when you unhook its bloody nipple (most of the time you can't tell its injured until its unhooked) is an even tougher memory to wipe... the thought of having a pulsating vacuum hooked up to your 'long john' for an hour sounds like a great idea in principle, but in practice really wouldn't be a good idea at all

Edited November 29, 2006 by Guest
cringe

[timouse]

"big names rally to support farmer" - from the CBC.

Celebrity chef Jamie Kennedy was among those who rallied in Toronto Wednesday to support a farmer's fight against an Ontario law that bans the sale of raw milk.

The debate was stirred up last week after Michael Schmidt's dairy farm near Durham north of Guelph was raided by provincial authorities because he has been illegally providing unpasteurized milk to about 150 customers.

looks like this is getting some more press...

this is all about the freedom to choose where your food comes from. paisley is spot on about "industrial" dairy practices...mastitis runs rampant in a lot of larger automated dairy operations, and pasteurization allows the dairy industry to mass produce a commodity with less worry about sanitation.

meh.

[Tricky]

also, the number one reason for children's ear infections is because of milk. Same for rashes, chronic diarrhea...And the number one cause for osteoporosis is high milk consumption, not just that but also meat...This is because the amount of protein that is in milk far outweighs the amount of calcium, and we all know that a high concentration of calcium leads the human body to create high levels of uric acid, uric acid leads to high concentrations of ammonia that is stored in muscle tissue. Unfortunately, the only way to balance this process is to supply the body with an adequate amount of calcium, and if it come from a 2:1 ratio cal-mag with D, you should be alright...but if you are not taking this supplement, which most people don't, the calcium is drawn out from your skeletal system causing bone collapse, osteoporosis, and other issues...Milk does the body good???right...it's not made for humans, it's made to nurture a baby calf into a 1 ton creature...and look at the countries with the highest amount of osteoporosis and when it started...when incredibly high amounts of protein consumption started as well...and no this is not some vegan rant, it's just nutritional facts.

Edited November 29, 2006 by Guest

[paisley]

human's are supposed to drink their mothers milk for a year or 2 to quickly put on some bulk... wonder why so many people are obese, drinking the milk of a cow thats intended to put roughly 200 lbs of weight onto a baby cow in its first year

[Tricky]

exactly...way too many issues when it comes to milk...I still drink my moms milk though, it really freaks people out at parties, but they all eventually give in and try it out too... that's how I met Hal

Edited November 29, 2006 by Guest

[slavetothegroove]

I like the taste of soy milk and rice milk more than dairy. For some reason I can taste all the crap in dairy milk now after drinking soy for so long. It's pretty grosse.

Ciao

Steph

[MoMack]

Also don't forget the g in phlegm.

thanks my brother... been so long since I had a problem with it' date=' forgot how to spell it!

and yeah, the accompanying uncharacteristicly human-like scream/screech the cow makes when you unhook its bloody nipple (most of the time you can't tell its injured until its unhooked) is an even tougher memory to wipe... the thought of having a pulsating vacuum hooked up to your 'long john' for an hour sounds like a great idea in principle, but in practice really wouldn't be a good idea at all

[/quote']

But thats part of it - this guy likely doesn't go bloody nipple style...

For what its worth, I'm a chocolate milk drinker and it always made me mad that when I went to shows down south I couldn't drink the milk because you can taste all the crap. Organic milk though, no problem.

[MoMack]

And one more thing -

Is there not an argument out there that rice products are actually more detrimental to the environment then local dairy... (a la Hewitts or this guy - not the big ones)

[paisley]

Is there not an argument out there that rice products are actually more detrimental to the environment then local dairy... (a la Hewitts or this guy - not the big ones)

dunno

I just honestly like the taste of rice milk more than cow's milk now... its not as fatty (don't like food that makes me sluggish... well maybe occasionally, but not daily)

[timouse]

what are the advantages of raw milk compared to the milk i buy at the store

(t)ricky posted an excellent bit on what pasteurizing does to proteins...basically they change shape and become functionally different. so if you have trouble drinking pasteurized milk, you might not have the same problems with unpasteurized...and it tastes amazing!

conventional dairy operations feed antiobiotics and hormones to cows, lots of which make their way in to meat and milk...check out d_rawk's post earlier about the weston price foundation and the campaign for real milk.

[questcequecest?]

in today's K-W Record

****************************

[h2]Raw milk: Public service or outlaw act?[/h2]

TAMSIN MCMAHON

WATERLOO REGION (Dec 13, 2006)

It started with one person who came to Marvin Weber's St. Jacobs farm looking for milk straight from the family's lone dairy cow.

The Weber family, who run a beef farm, didn't see any harm in selling a few litres of milk they had been drinking all their lives with no ill effects.

But word spread about the farm north of Waterloo, which would sell unpasteurized milk to desperate customers, a practice outlawed in the province since the 1930s because of health concerns.

People began showing up daily. The milking operation expanded to five cows, and the family sold as much as 80 litres of milk a day to meet the demand. Customers were calling ahead to place their orders, and dropping by on day trips from as far away as Toronto.

Even the Webers' family doctor bought their raw milk.

"Before you know it people are coming here and asking for it, begging for it," Marvin Weber said. "You can barely get them off the farm without giving it to them."

Most of the customers were immigrants who were used to drinking raw milk in their native countries and wanted the product to make their own cheese, Weber said. "They say they get sick from the stuff they buy in the store from everything that gets put in it."

Then in June, a 15-year-old Kitchener boy was hospitalized because of an E. coli infection local health officials believe was linked to milk bought at the Weber farm.

The infection was caused by the same strain of E. coli that tainted water in Walkerton, killing seven and sickening thousands, in 2000.

Two health inspectors and a Ministry of Natural Resources investigator shut down the Webers' raw-milk operation. Although Weber disputes the allegation the milk caused the E. coli infection, he and his mother, Lucinda Weber, pleaded guilty and were fined $2,500 for selling unpasteurized milk.

The region ordered four other farms to stop selling unpasteurized milk and products such as butter. They stopped and were not charged.

Health inspectors called in the Natural Resources Ministry because they suspected the Webers' farm was part of a larger raw-milk distribution network linked to a spate of illnesses in Toronto and Barrie. Investigators eventually determined it wasn't, said Rodger Dunlop, supervisor for agricultural investigations in the Natural Resources office in Guelph.

Farm fresh milk has become a hot-button political issue after police and Natural Resources officials raided Michael Schmidt's Durham farm for illegally selling the product. About 150 people have paid Schmidt to own part of a cow, which he contended legally entitled them to buy the raw milk.

One of the buyers was the wife of Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara, who last week backed a Conservative private member's bill to look into legalizing the sale of raw milk. The bill was defeated.

Only the Dairy Farmers of Ontario association is allowed to buy raw milk, which is pasteurized in licensed plants. Farmers can drink their own raw milk but cannot let it leave the farm.

The Webers have stopped selling raw milk since being charged. It hasn't had much impact on their income, Weber said, because at 60 cents a litre, raw-milk sales were never about the money.

Weber feels he was doing a service for people who came to his farm in search of a product that had strong cultural ties for them.

"We've had to chase a lot of people away. You can barely get them off the farm. They don't understand why we can't give it to them."

Unpasteurized milk can carry bacteria such as salmonella E. coli and campylobacter, said Chris Komorowski, a food safety and infection control manager with the regional health unit.

Such bacteria can lead to serious stomach illnesses and in some cases kidney failure and death. The elderly, children younger than five and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk.

Along with the Kitchener teen whose illness was linked to Weber's farm, a nine-year-old Waterloo girl was hospitalized this summer with kidney failure after eating raw milk cheese contaminated with E. coli. The cheese was given to the girl's family as a gift and wasn't linked to any farms in the region.

A third child in the region came down with a serious stomach illness caused by campylobacter after consuming raw milk this summer, Komorowski said.

Last year, two-year-old Cyrell Watson-McBride died of an E. coli infection. The child's death wasn't linked to raw milk, but Komorowski said the E. coli was the same strain found in the non-fatal cases this summer and underscores how serious infections from tainted milk can be.

For each reported case of serious food poisoning about 10 to 15 cases go unreported, Komorowski said. "What you're seeing is the tip of the iceberg."

Whatever the health benefits from drinking raw milk might be, they are overshadowed by serious risks, he said.

People have died in states that have legalized the sale of raw milk in the United States, he said, and people will likely die if raw milk is allowed to be sold or distributed in Ontario.

"There is this underground culture when it comes to unpasteurized milk," Komorowski said. "People out there think it's got some healing powers or something. But they're misinformed.

"The risks far outweigh any benefits. It's not safe. It would be a step backward if it ever got deregulated."

Farmers are getting mixed messages from governments, said Jeff Stager, past president of the Waterloo Federation of Agriculture, whose 700 members represent about half the farms in the area.

He said government responded to crushing competition from heavily subsidized food imports from the U.S. and Europe by encouraging local farmers to find other markets, such as agri-tourism and specialty products.

But when farmers like the Webers or Schmidt found a new market, they faced stiff penalties.

"It seems odd that the government tries to encourage farmers to find niche markets and then shuts them down when they do," he said.

Stager is hoping the courts or lawmakers can step in and sort out legal issues surrounding selling raw milk to willing customers who beg farmers for the product.

link: kw record

[nattyMatty]

I heard on the Radio the other day that this local polition, Bill Murdock, from Owen Sound is trying to fight for dude or somthing. I heard him saying some stuff about how he would like to have the milk studied. I donno..Thats my 2 cents worth on the subject