Democracy of Hypocrisy
Ways with words and words with ways
Farmer Will Stay The Course With Raw Milk
Moments after being held in contempt of court for selling raw milk, Michael Schmidt vows he will continue to defy the law by selling raw milk to those who will buy. I say good for him, people are getting tired of the nanny state dictating to them what is good for them and what is bad for them. What is interesting though is that he didn't actually sell milk, he sold shares in his cows to his neighbors thus circumventing the law. The law makes it illegal to sell unpasteurized milk in Canada.
Follow up:
Health officials say raw milk can carry bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes, which carry serious, and sometimes deadly, health consequences.
Yes, listeria, the same bacteria that you can find in your favorite luncheon meat found at your local grocery store. Perhaps it should be illegal to sell ham slices as well, considering it may contain harmful bacteria and all.
It makes me wonder how humans ever survived before the advent of the nanny state and government interference. Surely the government knows best and all our ancestors who drank raw milk were wrong. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the government looking out for us. Thanks guys, the hormone laden milk has helped me immensely.
Look, if there are people out there who wish to drink this stuff, let them, what business is it of yours to say otherwise? This regulation of everything we can or cannot eat is or has gotten way out of line and I for one and sick of it. Everyday we learn of some new law or what not restricting US, on what WE can put in our bodies. Not that I like the idea of drinking raw milk, but the point is, STOP being nanny's for fuck sakes.
Risks are risks and as long as the people are informed of the risks, what does it matter? You can catch any of these bacteria by eating anything from bean sprouts to a Harvey's cheese burger, yet no ban on those.Interestingly, Canada is the only G8 country in the world that bans the sale of raw milk.
Kudos to Michael Schmidt and his effort to fight the Nanny's...
SIDE NOTE
Brian Masse, Windsor West NDP is calling for a probe into how a LaSalle boy got sick after drinking contaminated, store bought milk. Whether the milk has been a factor in his illness has yet to be found, but I think this article is a good component to the whole food industry and government regulation.
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=877c18a8-23c3-4415-b4fd-711c71df8e29
| Print article | This entry was posted by zerodivision on 10/21/08 at 09:34:12 pm . Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. |
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10/21/08 @ 10:45:13 pm
The critique here seems to be misplaced. The issue with raw milk (and raw cheese) seems to be that, although the science is starting to show that raw milk doesn't have to be any more dangerous than other milk (as long as it's produced and stored correctly), there's a long tradition of being highly suspicious of raw milk. And with good reason. The claim you make here, that at some point in the past, everyone drank raw milk without problem, is simply false. TB and scarlet fever, to name just two, were associated with consuming raw milk.
The point should be that we now have alternative methods of treating milk which can reduce the health risks significantly. Not aimless venting about the mythical "nanny state".
10/21/08 @ 10:56:22 pm
I am by no means stating that raw milk has never caused anyone to get sick, that would be nonsense. What I am pointing out is that even store bought food stuffs make people sick. But for some reason, government wants to pay more attention to non regulated things that may or may not make one ill. It is a hard pill to swallow when someone shoves safety down your throat and the very next day you see on the news how people get sick from eating a cheese burger. Nothing is 100 percent safe and if people wish to drink raw milk, so be it. They are taking their risks by doing so, just as anyone who buys a package of deli meat does.
And there is nothing mythical about a government that attempts to regulate this and that, it is what it is.
03/01/10 @ 01:49:38 pm
It comes down to freedom of choice.
Yes, in New York city especially, in the early 1900's; before refrigeration or proper sterilization practices - raw milk was directly responsible for elevated child mortality. These rates decreased substantially with pasteurization.
Raw milk, given today's refrigeration and sterilization techniques - organic milk, if you will, should only be regulated to ensure proper handling conditions and a sterile environment - much like we do with meat and poultry.
http://www.moderncountrydairy.com/TopTen.php
03/05/10 @ 01:48:08 pm
I think the issue runs deeper to the crux of the matter.
Governments regulate food production, but do so largely on the advice (lobbying) of food producers. We know, though, that food production techniques (the feeding of corn to beef cattle, for instance) promote higher risks within the production chain (ecoli), all in the name of increasing yield (profits).
If government was serious about consumer safety then money could be better spent on an overhaul of the system rather than spending millions in litigation (vainly).
And I haven't even touched on the over-burdened food inspectors.