Raw milk sales legalized in Catalonia

Spain's Catalonia in raw milk controversy, Consumer - THE BUSINESS TIMES - AFP:

July 25, 2018 - "Catalonia is in the eye of the storm again, but not for its independence drive. This time, the controversy is all about ... raw milk.

"The Spanish region's decision last Thursday to allow the sale of unpasteurised cow's milk directly from producers to consumers after it was banned 28 years ago has caused alarm due to the potential health risks involved. Spanish media has published article after article outlining the bacteria-induced danger, health experts have come out against it and the issue has gone viral on Twitter, echoing similar vivid debates in countries such as the United States.

"Catalonia's food and agriculture regional minister Teresa Jorda argues raw milk has 'spectacular' health properties and is safe due to the 'technological improvements in farming equipment' and strict hygiene standards.... But critics are sceptical....

"On Tuesday, Spain's health ministry revealed that a decree allowing the sale of raw milk nationwide had been in the works under the previous conservative government. But the new Socialist executive has decided to suspend this until a 'full analysis' of the issue is done, it said in a statement.

"This suspension does not affect the decision in Catalonia, which has autonomy in food safety matters....

"Jorda also argues the measure will help small farmers increase their earnings as they will be selling milk directly to customers.

"Spain's UPA small farmers' union has asked for the measure to be implemented nationwide. It says Spain's livestock are in good condition which means drinking raw milk is safe, 'always bearing in mind the milk must be boiled and preserved correctly - a maximum of 72 hours from milking'....

"Further afield, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, where many states allow raw milk, warns strongly against it.... According to its most recent statistics from 2007 to 2016, '32 states reported 144 outbreaks linked to raw milk'.

"In Europe, raw milk is [also] legally available in France and Italy."

Read more: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/spains-catalonia-in-raw-milk-controversy
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Raid on raw milk farm thwarted by social media

Wrong that raw milk raids continue | Guest column | Opinion | Toronto Sun - Karen Selick:

October 4, 2015 - "On Friday, Oct. 2, 20 or so investigators from various Ontario government departments, accompanied by six armed police officers, raided Glencolton Farms, the co-operative farm in Grey Bruce County where raw milk advocate Michael Schmidt manages the dairy operation .... They arrived with a truck and a search warrant authorizing them to seize and remove numerous items for a raw milk investigation.

"The news spread quickly on Facebook and Twitter. Soon, 50 co-op members were at the farm, shoulder-to-shoulder, barring the exit to the invaders. Eventually, a deal was negotiated: the cops and bureaucrats would leave with nothing more than a few computers that had already been removed (which they promised to return), and the co-op owners would stand aside.

"This is the third such raid that Michael Schmidt has undergone.... Each time, Schmidt has been convicted of one or more regulatory offences relating to raw milk. Each time, he has been fined thousands of dollars.... Each time, the story caught the attention of increasing numbers of Canadians, who became curious about raw milk and wanted to acquire some. So each time, the province’s strong-arm tactics have backfired, increasing rather than reducing the number of raw milk drinkers in the province....

"Today, Canada makes the pasteurization of milk mandatory, but many countries around the world do not. Roughly half of the U.S. states allow sales of raw milk. In at least six European countries, raw milk is legally sold in vending machines....  The Canadian government says that unpasteurized milk is dangerous and people shouldn’t drink it. But ... there has not been even a single report of illness relating to the raw milk that Schmidt has produced over the past 27 years.....

"The controversy over raw milk has led researchers in Europe to conduct wide-ranging scientific studies.... The GABRIELA study published in 2011 ...  involved 8,000 school-aged children. Those who had consumed raw milk had a roughly 50% lower risk of asthma and allergies.

"Since asthma kills approximately 250 Canadians every year, it is perfectly reasonable for adults afflicted with the disease to seek out raw milk as a preventative measure for their children.

"Schmidt has consistently sought opportunities for the past 27 years to meet with provincial officials and negotiate a way to give Ontarians the option of consuming raw milk without breaking the law. The response has always been a cold shoulder.... Kathleen Wynne’s administration continues to follow the failed policy of raiding and harassing Schmidt and the co-owners of the co-operative farm."

Read more: http://www.torontosun.com/2015/10/04/wrong-that-raw-milk-raids-continue
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Wisconsin LP aims for a candidate in every District in 2014

Libertarian Party Launches Outreach For Candidates | WXPR - Ken Krall:

February 17, 2014 - "Paul Ehlers ran in 2012 for the state 12 District Senate seat. In the role as state Libertarian Party chair he says they're reaching out to many groups who have felt ... what he describes ... as the heavy hand of government ... called the 'Liberty Coalition'...

"'what we're trying to do is find people whose pursuit of happiness is being regulated, prohibited or restricted and get them to realize we have one thing in common'

"He mentions groups such as the raw milk producers, people active in the organization NORML, gun owners, people interested in renewable energy....

Ehlers says students are heavily in debt due to government changes in education financing ... 'students that maybe have massive student debt that are in default. They are not part of the problem. They are victims of the problem....'

"He says the Liberty Coalition goal is to have candidates in every major race in Wisconsin this year. "

Read more: http://wxpr.org/post/libertarian-party-launches-outreach-candidates
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Canadian government kills sheep to ensure they aren't sick

Canadian Government Destroys Heritage Sheep Herd and Wants to Send Farmer to Prison | Health Impact News - Brian Shilhavy:

April 25, 2013 - "Shepherdess Montana Jones began accumulating her flock of rare Shropshire sheep in 2000.... But in early 2010, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) suddenly quarantined Montana’s farm. A single sheep that she had sold in 2007 had died on a farm more than 1,500 miles away. It tested positive for a disease called scrapie. The CFIA thought the rest of Montana’s flock might be infected.

"The CFIA conducted live biopsies on Montana’s flock during 2011. All were negative for disease. None showed any symptoms of illness. But the CFIA said the live tests were only 88% accurate. They would need to kill the sheep and dissect their brains to know for sure whether they were ill, they said.

"Montana and her lawyer Karen Selick of the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) fought the CFIA throughout the early months of 2012, pointing out the absurdity of killing the sheep to make sure they weren’t sick.... Intransigent, the CFIA ordered that the sheep be destroyed. They told Montana they’d be coming to seize the sheep early on the morning of April 2, 2012.

"On the morning of the scheduled slaughter, Montana found that the sheep had disappeared.... The CFIA and Ontario Provincial Police mounted a massive search for the sheep, conducting door-to-door searches throughout rural Ontario and employing helicopters for aerial surveillance.

"About 9 weeks after the sheep’s disappearance, the CFIA received a tip-off from an undisclosed source. The sheep were located 200 miles away from Montana’s farm, at a farm very close to raw milk crusader Michael Schmidt’s farm. The CFIA seized, killed and tested all the sheep, including numerous lambs that had been born to them during their absence. All were negative for scrapie.

"Now Montana Jones has been charged with numerous criminal offences, including conspiracy, breach of quarantine, and disobeying a regulatory order. The CFIA also alleges that Michael Schmidt is involved in the conspiracy. He too is facing criminal charges. If convicted, Montana faces up to 12 years in jail and fines of $1.5 million. Michael, charged with one less charge, faces up to 10 years in jail and fines of $1.25 million.

Read more: http://healthimpactnews.com/2013/canadian-government-destroys-heritage-sheep-herd-and-wants-to-send-farmer-to-prison/
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Wisconsin Libertarian Party defends effort to legalize raw milk

Wisconsin Ag Connection - State's Libertarian Party Defends Effort to Legalize Raw Milk:

March 20, 2013 - "Leaders of the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin say the state government should have no right to stop people from selling or drinking raw milk. In a statement from the political group's chairman on Tuesday, Terry Gray claimed the current state law that prevents consumers from purchasing what he calls 'real' or unpasteurized milk demonstrates 'the power of the corporate dairy control over the legislature of America's Dairyland.'

"'Government health officials claim that all uncooked animal products are inherently dangerous, even if our forefathers seem to have thrived on raw milk up until the 1950s,' Gray said in his memo. 'Fresh dairy proponents insist that unpasteurized milk is tastier, healthier, and easier to digest. Ultimately, shouldn't informed consumers be the ones to decide whether to purchase this natural product -- or not?'

"State Senator Glenn Grothman of West Bend has said he plans to introduce a new bill this spring that would legalize the sales of unpasteurized milk under certain conditions. A similar bill was drafted last year, but failed to be brought up for a floor vote."

Read moe: http://www.wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=330&yr=2013
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Maine residents’ fight for unregulated food draws crackdown

Raw deal: Maine residents’ fight for unregulated food draws crackdown | Grist - David Gumpert:

June 29, 2012 - "The residents in eight small Maine towns have all voted to declare 'food sovereignty' — and they won’t be forgetting the issue any time soon. In other words, they’ve passed ordinances that explicitly allow local farmers and ranchers to sell their food — meat, eggs, unpasteurized milk, honey, veggies — directly to consumers within town borders, without state or federal licenses, permits, or regulations.

"Towns in Massachusetts, Vermont, and California have all replicated these experiments.... These votes are the result of work by activists in the food sovereignty moment, who see the ordinances as a response to an ever more intensely regulated food system....

"Just months after the first six towns passed the ordinances, the state filed a lawsuit against a farmer named Dan Brown of Blue Hill, Maine, for selling unpasteurized milk without a state permit. While there’s no mention of the food sovereignty ordinances in the suit, and state officials have denied a connection, Brown’s defense lawyers obtained email correspondence that suggest otherwise. For instance, a Maine Dept. of Agriculture program manager sent an email in June 2011 — two months after Blue Hill’s food sovereignty ordinance was enacted — about Brown.... 'Sounds like we have our first test case,' he wrote."

Read more: http://grist.org/food/raw-deal-maine-residents-fight-for-unregulated-food-draws-crackdown/
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