By Linda Morken, WAPF Vancouver Island Chapter Leader
Why do Canadian consumers want raw milk?
There is plenty of evidence that probiotic-rich raw milk is a health-enhancing food and that its vital elements are destroyed by pasteurization and processing. Raw milk therapy is currently a well-used protocol in German hospitals, just as it was in the early 1900’s at the then named Mayo Foundation when the ‘raw milk cure’ was used as successful therapy for hopeless cases.
Raw milk can truly be a life-saving food and has been shown to help with asthma, allergies and many other conditions. And the taste – delicious! In most countries of the world, this traditional, real and unprocessed food is widely available. Why not in Canada?
Canada needs thriving small farms and local dairies.
Small local dairies boost the economy and selling milk, butter and cream can actually be what saves the family farm. Thirty years ago in British Columbia, for example, there were over 4,000 dairy farms, today there are 480 and declining. One small farm can easily employ five full-time staff and more. The unfair and senseless regulations imposed upon Canadian farmers deprives them of making an honest living, and this has been the case for over a century.
Because of a food regulation that doesn’t apply to many other higher risk foods, farmers that produce traditional raw milk risk going to jail and ludicrous fines that can mean losing their farms.
Is raw milk safe?
No one will argue that in days long gone there were serious problems with swill milk that came from sick cows in deplorable, dirty conditions. However, with proper standards and modern testing with a food safety plan (such as with a Risk Analysis and Management Program – RAMP), regulated raw milk can be extremely safe. In fact, raw milk is deemed to be no more risky than eating spinach. Raw milk isn’t risk free, but it is a low risk food. This conclusion was documented in a Grand Rounds presentation at BC’s own Centre for Disease Control by researcher Nadine Ijaz. Modern safety checks and methods ensure healthy cows and clean milk.
Come to Canada, Queen Elizabeth, and have a glass of our wonderful raw milk – well, maybe not.
Canada is the only G8 Country that restricts 100% access to farm fresh milk. Many European countries commonly dispense raw milk in vending machines. It is long past time to bring Canada to a place where the need for raw milk is acknowledged and the rights of its citizens to produce and access this traditional food are respected.
There are an estimated 100 micro dairies operating under the radar in British Columbia alone. The 20+ year legal fight that Ontario has had with farmer Michael Schmidt has cost taxpayers untold dollars, and this cruel harassment is nothing short of the bullying of a farmer who simply wants to provide a clean, nourishing food to his community.
Please consider showing your support for Michael Schmidt (Agister), Agricultural Renewal Co-op, and the livestock owner group, Our Farm Our Food Co-op, in solidarity with all Canadian raw milk producers and those who depend on raw milk products in Canada by donating here to help
cover ongoing court costs: https://www.gofundme.com/foodrights.
Isn’t it beyond the height of ignorance and irony that in Canada, Queen Elizabeth could not be served something she is accustomed to in her homeland without breaking our unfair and ridiculous raw milk laws?
For more information about raw milk and its benefits, check out the non-profit Weston A. Price Foundation’s® Campaign for Real Milk. WAPF has been instrumental in the fact that raw milk is now legally available in 42 American states and in many countries the world over. In this time of never-before-seen numbers of children suffering from chronic, degenerative diseases, the awareness that fresh, organic raw milk from grass-fed cows can be a health-giving food is growing. It is ludicrous that Canadian law continues to deprive its citizens of their fundamental right to consume the foods of their choice, provided by the producers of their choice.
And while we’re on the topic of food choices…
Take a look at this article about why we need to fix Canada’s Food Guide. Please sign the share the petition that is backed by over 500 Canadian physicians and allied health professionals to have Health Canada change the food guide so that it represents evidence based nutritional policy that is free from industry influence. Find the petition here: http://www.changethefoodguide.ca/
Reprinted with permission from Alternative Boomer Legacy.