STANDING UP FOR OUR RIGHT TO DRINK FRESH RAW MILK

                      
Alice Jongerden (right) with Michael Schmidt, Elise and their son, during a visit in May to Schmidt's Glencolton Farms in Durham, Ontario. Schmidt has now taken over operation of Jongerden's Home on the Range dairy in Chilliwack while Alice faces contempt of court charges brought by Fraser Health.


The following article can be found in it's entirety at
http://tinyurl.com/27w85fp

Prominent Ontario Raw Milk Advocate Takes Over Chilliwack Dairy
By Paul J. Henderson, THE TIMES

Ontario dairy farmer Michel Schmidt has taken over Chilliwack's Home on the Range raw milk dairy so the flow of milk can continue to hundreds of members of the co-operative.



Fraser Health has been trying to shut down Home on the Range for more than two years and on Tuesday succeeded in forcing the cowshare operator Alice Jongerden to officially resign as part of a court-ordered condition.


Jongerden was in court in New Westminster Tuesday facing civil contempt of court charges brought by Fraser Health for continuing the milk production and distribution after being issued cease and desist orders.


She asked for an adjournment, something the judge agreed to under the condition that there would be no further production or distribution. She then stepped down and Schmidt told the Times Friday that cowshare members are on the farm to milk the cows.


"Alice is completely out now," he said over the phone from Ontario. "I'm at the moment basically managing it from here."


Schmidt said he will essentially run the dairy from his farm in Durham, On. He plans to come out for a visit later in September for two days. Schmidt has been consulting and supporting Home on the Range for a number of years.


Schmidt's own case made national and international headlines in January when he was acquitted of all 19 charges in Ontario court for doing essentially the same thing as Jongerden was doing in Chilliwack.


"I was acquitted in exactly the same situation as Home on the Range," he said. "People own the cows and we had a private arrangement just like Home on the Range." Read whole article here....
http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/Prominent+Ontario+milk+advocate+takes+over+Chilliwack+dairy/3541062/story.html


THE RAW MILK REVOLUTION


THE UNTOLD STORY OF MILK

FOR ARTICLES ON THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF RAW MILK
http://foodfreedomrevolution.blogspot.com/search/label/RAW%20MILK%20BENEFITS

OFFICIALS ARE BLOCKING OUR RIGHTS TO REAL FOOD

Please see the following story at http://www.channel3000.com/news/24190248/detail.html
The United States Department of Agriculture has visited  the farm of Vernon Hershberger in Loganville Wisconsin for the third time this summer....only now with a search warrant. Hershberger is a dairy farmer who leases his cows to people who want to drink milk that is not pasteurized. They want to be able to drink milk as nature intended it. Hershberger does not sell his milk to the people. When the people come to pick up their milk, they are collecting it from their own cows that they have leased.

It is ridiculous to begin with , that people have to go to such lengths to get their mooshine, and then to have federal officials threaten to shut down a man's farm who is making available a health giving substance that people have been drinking for eons. If this was really a health safety issue, the USDA should be shutting down the factory farms which produce the adulterated milk which causes allergies, lactose intolerance, sinus issues and other health problems.

We need to become more aware of our inherent rights to healthy food and to begin to realize that these corporate government agencies are not out to protect our health. They are protecting big commerce and their own connected interests.

THE WAR OVER FRESH UNADULTERATED MILK

July 3, 2010
http://thebovine.wordpress.com/

“Raw Milk War” film to debut excerpts at Harbourfront in Toronto July 4th

Excerpts from the much anticipated documentary film on the battle for Raw Milk in Ontario

Sunday July 4th – 5PM – Studio Theatre – FREE

Featuring a Q&A with producers Declan O’Driscoll and Richard Paradiso

With special guest: Raw milk hero Michael Schmidt

Milk War is a story about Durham, Ontario organic dairy farmer Michael Schmidt’s battle to legalize the sale of unpasteurized milk. A Canadian David and Goliath story; when asked if he was willing to go to jail Michael said: “Whatever it takes to give people the freedom to choose healthy nutritious food”.

For more information: 416-973-4000

WE SHOULDN'T NEED PERMISSION TO SELL FOOD TO EACH OTHER

http://tinyurl.com/276vz84
State searches second farm in raw dairy products case
by Mark Steil, Minnesota Public Radio
June 26, 2010


Worthington, Minn. — It appears the state's investigation of raw milk has grown into a broader crackdown on sales of unpasteurized milk products.


The Minnesota Agriculture Department has searched a second farm that has allegedly sold raw milk. The investigations began after E. coli traced to unpasteurized products sickened eight people. The southern Minnesota farm blamed for the E. coli outbreak has been searched twice.


A search warrant dated June 21 says state investigators believed a crime had been committed on the Schlangen Family Farm near Freeport in central Minnesota.

At least two state investigators and two county sheriff's deputies went to the farm. Agriculture Department spokesman Michael Schommer said they were looking for evidence that the Schlangen's were making illegal food sales.


"The investigation is looking into alleged unlawful sale of farm products, potentially including raw milk and adulterated or misbranded food," Schommer said.


The investigators took milk and other samples from the farm. They also seized the farm's management records.


The search warrant says the evidence that the Schlangen's were illegally selling raw milk turned up during a June 15 inspection of the Traditional Foods Minnesota Warehouse in south Minneapolis.


Ag department tests of Schlangen milk being held for sale at the warehouse showed the product was unpasteurized. In addition to the raw milk, the search warrant alleges the Schlangen's illegally sold produce, including fruit, without a license.


The state also says the farm sold meat unlawfully. The search warrant affidavit includes photos of people apparently in line to buy products from a van with signs identifying the Shlangen farm posted in front of the vehicle.

The owner of the farm, Alvin Schlangen, says the main business of his farm is producing and selling eggs. He refused to do a recorded interview, but did respond by email to MPR's questions.


Schlangen says during the search the state embargoed most of the food inventory on the farm. He says investigators seized his computerized management records.


When asked if he sells unpasteurized milk, Schlangen's replied, 'we have acted as an agent' for that product. He goes on to say he recommends unpasteurized milk over what he calls manufactured milk.


Schlangen says he's doing fine in the wake of the search, but describes his wife as 'a wreck.'


There's been one other development in the unpasteurized milk issue. A raw milk producer near Ogilvie, 50 miles north of the Twin Cities, says he's going out of business. A message posted on the Kalisch Farm website says 'thanks for your emails, concerns and friendship'.

WHAT'S THE REAL FUSS ABOUT RAW MILK?

IN THESE TIMES MAGAZINE
News » June 23, 2010

Got Raw Milk?

Small farmers and consumer advocates say unpasteurized milk bans are about protecting big industry.

By Marie Landau

Despite being illegal in many states, thousands of Americans seek unpasteurized “raw” dairy products that enthusiasts say cure everything from asthma to autism. (Photo by: TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images)

'Look at hamburger meat, spinach, peanut butter,' says Gumbert. 'There’s no talk of banning these foods, even though they’ve been huge public health hazards.'SHARE THIS ARTICLE
In Massachusetts, a controversy over raw milk regulations has cast doubt on our seemingly basic right to unprocessed food. Government, public health and dairy industry officials want to restrict the sale and distribution of raw (unpasteurized) milk, citing grave safety concerns. But small dairy farmers, organic consumers’ advocates and raw milk drinkers say the issue isn’t safety—it’s control of the dairy market.

In January, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) proposed new regulations that would ban off-the-farm sale and distribution of raw milk. Prior to making the revamped regulations public, MDAR issued cease-and-desist orders to four milk-buying clubs that buy raw milk directly from small farmers and distribute it among members. MDAR Commissioner Scott Soares insists the clubs’ activities are illegal and that the new rules are “intended to be a clarification over what has always been the case.”

Soares says MDAR began revising raw milk protocol in an “effort to align regulations with those outlined by the Food and Drug Administration.” And according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the bottom line here is safety. But Alexis Baden-Mayer, political director of the Organic Consumers Association, describes Soares as an “[a]nti-raw milk crusader.” And David Gumpert, author of The Raw Milk Revolution, says that regulation is “not about safety—it’s about protecting markets.”   READ MORE......
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/6106/got_raw_milk1

THE UNTOLD STORY OF MILK 

SAVE OUR FARMS AND THE RIGHT TO CLEAN PURE FOOD

Close to State of Emergency: Update on Hershberger and the Raid on the Farm Food Ministries

We are sliding into a state of emergency if farmers, 
the foundation of society, are systematically eliminated through 
over-regulation, licenses, raids and economic strangulation. Unless the
 consumers who care about their food rally around the last remaining farms 
we will face a crisis beyond imagination. Our food system
 is a fragile house of cards.—Michael Schmidt, Canadian biodynamic dairyman, ARMi Co-director

“There is a power that kicks in, which is beyond measure” . . . Vernon Hershberger

I spoke with Vernon Hershberger again tonight to let him know nice money is coming in for his defense from the Wisconsin ARMi fundraiser. He also gave me some big news you have not yet heard that I will reveal at the end of the article.

For the third time since the raid last week, the State and its agents came on the property. Yesterday, as the armed deputies with the judge’s warrant approached the door after Vernon refused them entry, “the kids locked the door from the inside . . . just in the nick of time.”

With continued courage, Vernon Hershberger and his family, continues his acts of defiance and disobedience to the government officials and bureaucrats—who demands that he stop providing food to those who already own it—until he gets a license that they will not issue—and threatening fines of $4000 per day per violation of rules he believes do not apply.

There are the constitutional guarantees at issue here:

1) the right to own private property

2) the right to privately contract (make an agreement) with individuals


3) the right to learn and decide what foods and health options are best for you and your family


4) the right to do business with those you trust and honor and wish to trade with;


5) the right to contract for one’s food for a future delivery; the right to take delivery; and the right to own a share of a farm/food production operation.


Why must we run to the State to ask permission to exercise rights that have already been given freely and endowed by the Creator and affirmed by the Constitution?

Then there is the major issue of interference of the State on freedom to practice ones religious faith—in this case the belief that the purpose of work is in part to have something left over to share with someone who is in need.

Many believe in the command from a higher law to share and give of their abundance to those you choose. There is the right to believe that when the law of the State and the law of God conflict, the right to obey the latter and disobey the State– and to suffer whatever penalty is applied. To break one’s faith in action is difficult– and not without public outcry.

The State is claiming jurisdiction over these simple basic rights—the right to work and share/give of the food they produce to those who have said they need it for their health as the choose and have agreed to accept the food in a private arrangement.

Pete Kennedy, an attorney with Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Foundation quoyed Vernon’s own words in a legal update yesterday:


Coming from an Amish background, we had been taught the biblical principles of non-resistance and loving and praying for our enemies and those who persecute us.

I slept only a few hours and meditated a long time, seeking the Lord and His will in these troubling circumstances. What would Jesus do? Bible passages like: “Blessed are you, when men shall revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake”. (Matt. 5:11) “But I say unto you, ‘Love your enemies, Bless them that curse you, do good to them which hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you’.” (Matt. 5:44) Also Psalms 37 has promises that we can claim for our own if we trust in him.

There is another phrase that is very powerful that I strongly believe in: There’s no greater love that a man can have than to lay down his life for his friend. If we become so passionate about something that we are willing to lay down our lives for it, there is a power that kicks in, which is beyond measure. As all these things were going around in my head, I thought to myself: As we head into the future we do not know what it holds but we know Who holds it and that’s what counts.

Many may not understand “laying down one’s life” does not require dying for a cause or a person—it means a huge sacrifice in some way—to make the way better for others.

Rosanne Lindsay is co-director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Raw Milk (WI ARMi) a rapid-growth 1000 member-Facebook site. Lindsay told the Journal:

The state’s invasion of Vernon’s farm and the threats against Vernon and his family represent a broader threat against liberty. Raw milk has become a linch pin in a fight for food sovereignty and health freedom. Vernon and Erma are leading us to the truth by their actions of civil disobedience. Will we follow and preserve the rights we were born with?

Many are saying now (along with actions taken by state and federal agents nationally) that the State is calling evil good and good evil. The fires of passion are beginning to spread.

In my opinion, I think if the farmers and consumers of Wisconsin should join together in a class action against the state in a civil suit for triple personal and business damages. I also challenge those within the local and state agencies who might side with the Hershberger’s situation to come out of the closet and speak out.

Vernon told me a lawsuit against the State may be pending for its actions—being called by his supporters as illegal. The Hershberger Farm Food Freedom Fund has reached only $1600 for his defense and what may be a countersuit ($2300 total gifts received). Give generously and help make the point where the line is drawn.

TV NEWS STORY http://www.channel3000.com/localvideo/index.html?v=29206

To take action...read more..... http://tinyurl.com/2wels4v