babusyatanya (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
babusyatanya) wrote2011-10-18 08:34 pm
babusyatanya) wrote2011-10-18 08:34 pm
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18 день голодовки - Michael Shmidt on hunger strike
http://babusyatanya.blogspot.com/2011/10/18-michael-shmidt-on-hunger-strike.html
(c) "Henry Kissinger said, "If we can control fuel we can control the masses; if we can control food we can control individuals."
Well, you only need to look at gas prices to see the first part of that is in place. But now they are working on the second part.
Under the Food Safety Modernization Act, the US FDA can now come in and, without a search warrant nor court order, seize your computers and bank accounts (as well as your food) if you are merely SUSPECTED of using "unapproved farming methods" or "unapproved seed sources," among other things.
The US FDA is flexing its muscles, spending an entire year infiltrating (for example) the raw dairy herd share of Amish farmer Dan Algyer, and arresting him for "conspiring to transport raw milk across state borders."
A food buying co-op in California, Rawsome Foods, was recently shut down by an armed swat team of federal, state, and local agents, for similar reasons. Three people were assessed fines totalling over $250,000.
Now in Canada, our government has declared war on a gentle, mild-mannered dairy farmer, assessing $110,000 in fines. Michaels Schmidt's terrible offence? He set up a shared-ownership situation in which he cared for people's cows and distributed THEIR milk to them! He initially won a court battle, but it was reversed in a higher court, in which the judge stated that Canadians do not have a fundamental right to drink milk, pasteurized or not, from animals they own.
In BC, I have set up a herd share operation so that the co-owners of EcoReality Co-op's dairy goat herd can legally (so we thought) obtain raw milk from their goats. So far, the regulators have not noticed our little operation. But you can be sure they will someday.
I would gladly go to jail for this cause. But they are too smart for that -- they don't want martyrs on their hands. Instead, they levy usurious fines, upon which they can seize assets, putting the raw dairy operations into bankruptcy.
But now they have a martyr on their hands. After trying to work with the authorities for 17 years, brave Michael Schmidt is in his 19th day of a hunger strike. He is seeking to meet with the Ontario Premiere in order to find a way that citizens can eat food of their choosing, from animals they own.
"But I don't drink milk," you might exclaim, or even "I'm vegan, and don't believe animals should be milked."
Well, remember what Pastor Martin Niemoller* wrote in the days of Nazi Germany? It may be milk they're after today, but it may be your bean sprouts tomorrow. This is not someone else's problem! This is a problem for ANYONE who wants control over what they eat.
Please join me in signing the petition!
Thanks!
Jan Steinman
* "In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me -- and by that time no one was left to speak up." -- Pastor Martin Niemoller
(The rest of this message came from the petition campaign, not me.)
----------------
Hey,
I just signed the petition "Government of Canada: Support food freedom" and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name.
Our goal is to reach 10,000 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/government-of-canada-support-food-freedom
Thanks!
Jan"
(c) "Henry Kissinger said, "If we can control fuel we can control the masses; if we can control food we can control individuals."
Well, you only need to look at gas prices to see the first part of that is in place. But now they are working on the second part.
Under the Food Safety Modernization Act, the US FDA can now come in and, without a search warrant nor court order, seize your computers and bank accounts (as well as your food) if you are merely SUSPECTED of using "unapproved farming methods" or "unapproved seed sources," among other things.
The US FDA is flexing its muscles, spending an entire year infiltrating (for example) the raw dairy herd share of Amish farmer Dan Algyer, and arresting him for "conspiring to transport raw milk across state borders."
A food buying co-op in California, Rawsome Foods, was recently shut down by an armed swat team of federal, state, and local agents, for similar reasons. Three people were assessed fines totalling over $250,000.
Now in Canada, our government has declared war on a gentle, mild-mannered dairy farmer, assessing $110,000 in fines. Michaels Schmidt's terrible offence? He set up a shared-ownership situation in which he cared for people's cows and distributed THEIR milk to them! He initially won a court battle, but it was reversed in a higher court, in which the judge stated that Canadians do not have a fundamental right to drink milk, pasteurized or not, from animals they own.
In BC, I have set up a herd share operation so that the co-owners of EcoReality Co-op's dairy goat herd can legally (so we thought) obtain raw milk from their goats. So far, the regulators have not noticed our little operation. But you can be sure they will someday.
I would gladly go to jail for this cause. But they are too smart for that -- they don't want martyrs on their hands. Instead, they levy usurious fines, upon which they can seize assets, putting the raw dairy operations into bankruptcy.
But now they have a martyr on their hands. After trying to work with the authorities for 17 years, brave Michael Schmidt is in his 19th day of a hunger strike. He is seeking to meet with the Ontario Premiere in order to find a way that citizens can eat food of their choosing, from animals they own.
"But I don't drink milk," you might exclaim, or even "I'm vegan, and don't believe animals should be milked."
Well, remember what Pastor Martin Niemoller* wrote in the days of Nazi Germany? It may be milk they're after today, but it may be your bean sprouts tomorrow. This is not someone else's problem! This is a problem for ANYONE who wants control over what they eat.
Please join me in signing the petition!
Thanks!
Jan Steinman
* "In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me -- and by that time no one was left to speak up." -- Pastor Martin Niemoller
(The rest of this message came from the petition campaign, not me.)
----------------
Hey,
I just signed the petition "Government of Canada: Support food freedom" and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name.
Our goal is to reach 10,000 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/government-of-canada-support-food-freedom
Thanks!
Jan"