Here’s a holiday story to warm the heart. A Michigan mother of three children, the youngest of whom is only six months, is going through a very messy divorce proceeding with a husband who allegedly physically abused her before she moved out. While they share legal custody of the children, the mother has been granted full physical custody.
Now, the man is seeking full legal and physical custody of the children, and one of his arguments is that he is concerned about the children’s “safety” because the mother “gives the children raw milk, the sale of which is illegal in Michigan.” She obtains her milk from a local herdshare.
You’d think the answer would be pretty obvious—we’re talking about milk here, not corn syrup or diet soda or tuna fish, and we know that raw milk (not soft “bathtub” cheese) doesn’t show up on any lists of most-risky foods for foodborne illness. In addition, mothers are favored for physical custody, especially in cases involving a father’s alleged abuse.
One other thing: While Michigan prohibits the retail sale of raw milk, it does allow herdshare arrangements. It has explicitly done so since May 2007, when the case of Richard Hebron, the farmer whose raw milk was confiscated in a sting operation in October 2006, was brought to a close via a compromise legal agreement. The agreement—signed by the Michigan Department of Agriculture—explicitly provides for distribution of raw milk via herdshares in Michigan.
Unfortunately, the reality may not matter because we may be looking at a case of pure fearmongering around the combustible mix of raw milk and children. This story first showed up on a raw milk listserve, and I’ve since made contact with the mom; she asked me to not use her name, and to disguise her personal details , which I’ve done.
On the listserve, Sally Fallon, president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, responded, “Unfortunately, in a divorce court, it won’t matter whether giving raw milk is legal or not.It will be up to the judge, court psychiatrists, etc. It is very hard to win this one in divorce court.”
I think the problem Sally is referring to is that pretty much any “expert” the father calls on—pediatrician, physician, public health official, etc.—could well testify that raw milk is “dangerous” for young children. We’ve seen frequent examples of how the scientific and medical establishments lie and misstate the facts around raw milk research and dangers.
If Sally is correct, then this situation may actually be a better example of the “legal” repercussions around raw milk than the insurance and similar issues anticipated by Regulator following my December 26 posting.
The real possibility that a mother could lose her children to an abusive father is a reminder about the ramifications of the ongoing vilification of raw milk by the medical/agriculture/health establishments.
Raw milk isn’t the only thing that can be used against you in a court of law. Once you step outside of the norm, you do have a certain greater vulnerability. One way to address it? The sort of solidarity and support you can find in blog’s such as David’s. And it really does help to have some journalists as friends and allies!
I didn’t really set out to be on the fringe. Sigh. But once you start paying attention it is near impossible to go back. But hey – the more the merrier. And also the safer for all of us. That’s the reality of this crazy world where a mom can be accused of abuse for providing the best nutrition she knows, and no one thinks twice about a parent who takes his or her kids to McD every day.
What you are doing with this blog David is wonderful, discussing the ins and outs (and inviting discussion) in a calm and rational manner. From what I’ve seen divorce court is a messy and painful place. I don’t think it’s the place to discuss the safety and benefits of Raw Milk. But then, perhaps the father is seriously worried about the health of his children, making it a subject that MUST be discussed. (yes, there was a bit of sarcasm there)
My mind’s eye plays through discussions, what could happen, where the conversation leads. All I can see is proceedings derailed at every opportunity, falling prey to tiny details, misdirection and yes, fear-mongering.
A story like this makes me want to cry out in frustration. I don’t know if the truth will out. I know what I believe, but I don’t know everything, and nobody does. I’m sorry for my rambling nature, but I’m trying to encompass this, to wrap my mind around it, distill the whole issue and all ramifications into one concise and yet far-reaching statement and I just can’t. Every time I think I’ve got it, it shatters into a million shards and I scramble to pick up the pieces.
http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/ron-hull-phd-and-dr-ted-beals-michael-schmidts-expert-witnesses/#more-4985
" the Affidavits of Ron Hull and Ted Beals were entered into Court as part of them being qualified as to qualify as expert witnesses in Michael Schmidt’s trial on charges of breaking the law in Ontario. read them, and have a good laugh at how the Prosecutor must be feeling, right about now"
(from Gordon Watson on Raw Dairy list)
I would think Mark could offer even more.
-Blair
Here’s another 2006 divorce custody case, this time it was the father who’s serving their kids raw milk and refusing to vaccinate. I don’t recall hearing the outcome of this case.
http://onibasu.com/archives/rd/22985.html
I think the best compilation of scientific evidence is on http://www.realmilk.com – The original PowerPoint Presentation and the Rebuttal to the FDA PPT…
If they think the jury is too ADD to go thru this, try the YouTube testimony for California’s SB 201, among many others.
As a WAPF chapter leader I read about all the moms who for one reason or another can’t breastfeed and want raw milk and colostrum for their babies. The Wise Traditions journal regularly features pics of babies raised on raw milk, all with the common physical traits of round proportional faces, wide dental arches, and happy contented dispositions. Parents report that they sleep through the night and some hold their heads up, roll over, and walk and talk much earlier than other children.
I think it’s wise with the community at large to only mention the benefits and relative safety of raw milk, stay completely away from the ‘dangers of pasteurized milk’, and focus on the right to choose. Especially if herd shares are legal.
You’ll never convince a jury that they were wrong to serve their kids pasteurized milk, but hopefully you can get them to acknowledge that we all have a constitutional right to consume our foods of choice.
-Blair
Somewhat on topic, below is a new report from CDC…
Campylobacter jejuni Infection Associated with Unpasteurized Milk and Cheese — Kansas, 2007
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5751a2.htm?s_cid=mm5751a2_x
Conclusions from the editorial note:
-Required permits and point-of-sale signage warning of the potential dangers of unpasteurized milk and unpasteurized milk products have not demonstrably decreased outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness in other states.
-Stricter laws prohibiting the sale or donation of unpasteurized milk might better protect the public, especially members of certain groups that are at increased risk for infection-related complications (e.g., young and elderly persons and pregnant women).
-To prevent milkborne infections, unpasteurized milk and unpasteurized milk products should not be consumed.
The experts show up to support raw milk along with tons of good people.
The other side does not show up at all or send puppets of John Sheehan of the FDA. They say the same dogma and raw milk experts shred them.
We won in CA with the vote of the legislature… We lost with dirty politics at the gov desk.
My advice…supeona tons of normal people and the PhD experts. The jury will love your intellegence loving care.
Also…tell them all moms give raw milk to their kids. Breast milk is raw milk. As a mom it is your choice.
SB 201 provides a ready war chest of testimony.
Stay centered,
Mark
L form (L-phase, L-phase variant)
"L-forms are bacterial spheroplasts or protoplasts originating from normal bacteria following partial (spheroplasts) or complete (protoplasts) removal of the cell wall. The formation of L-forms can be either spontaneous (occuring during certain phase of growth) or artificial (suppression of the rigid cell wall by stimuli such as enzymes, heat-shock, or specieal L form induction medium, etc.) Bacterial genera from which L-forms have been derived include: Agrobacterium, Bacillus, Bacterodes, Bartonella, Bordetella, Brucella, Clostridium, Corynebacterium, Erysipelothrix, Escherichia, Flavobacterium, Haemophilus, Listeria, Neisseria, Proteus, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Sarcina, Serratia, Shigella, Staphylococcus, Streptobacillus, Streptococcus, and Vibrio. "
NOTICE : Heat shock(pasteurization) can induce many bacterium to shed their cell walls,making them very difficult to detect by staining and viewing through a microscope.If we can’t see them then they are gone, right?So pasteurization must have eliminated them, right? Not so fast. Without a cell wall,these bacteria become more difficult for our immune system to detect and eliminate.Now they can even enter white blood cells and reproduce inside of them.They even have the ability to change the behavior of these white blood cells which usually work to eliminate invaders.Without cell walls they can pass through the blood brain barrier.
Pasteurization can turn normal bacteria that our immune systems recognize into "stealth pathogens" that can now elude our immune cells and disrupt the normal processes that keep us healthy.In cattle, MAP(mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis) is easily seen and cultured,not so in crohn’s patients.Pasteurization of dairy products and cooking of beef induces MAP to shed its cell wall,making it difficult to see and culture.In crohn’s patients,MAP is inside the cells of the intestinal lining where it is safe from our immune system.
Notice that brucella is one of those bacterium from which l-forms have been induced.Lawrence Broxmeyer believes that pasteurization can also induce l-forms of TB bacterium.
http://www.pamrotella.com/health/bovinebacteria.html
Can we hope to get our dairy products from obviously sick animals when the silver bullet(pasteurization),clearly turns the bacteria in the milk into much more dangerous pathogens?I believe that this explains why so many people react badly to pasteurized milk. Clean milk from healthy animals or no milk at all seem to be our only sensible choices.
From 1900 thru 2005 Cardiovascular disease has not changed much per 100,000 people and cancer has made a huge jump. Smoking has declined, so what will be the blame? Flu deaths haven’t changed much since the 1950s, long before the flu vacc.
I hope that the jury (if there is one) will be educated about the modern diet along with its decline in nutrition. Clean milk from clean cows is safer than the toxic processed foods. There have been studies that show that true organically raised foods are healthier than factory farm raised foods.
Miguel, looking at the microbiology of pasteurization turns my stomach in many ways. I can see where it is lethal to many.
The health care system is failing because its only practice is to cut, burn or poison and refuses to acknowledge that consuming toxic foodless foods results in slow starvation and ravages our bodies.
The USDA has encourage the destruction of the nations agriculture and promoted agribusiness. Agribusiness was a disaster for the ancient Romans and more recently the failed USSR. Why should our leaders think they will produce a different outcome. Since we now import over half of our food maybe could someone explain that to them.
Shortly after the Enron affair huge sums of money was given to the SEC to prevent that from happening again. Now we have an even worse scheme revealed the Madoff ponzi rip off, the SEC missed this even tho theywere warned repetedly.
If there is any thing we can learn from our present financial crisis is it not that the lifes blood that fuels the economic engine is DEBT, DEBT and more DEBT. In 2008 the cost for just servicing the National Debt reached $461 billion dollars annually!
Are our leaders doing anything right?????
Perhaps our only hope is a kin to what someone recently posted. We are rebuilding our nation from the bottom up person by person, family by family, and farm by farm!
"The begining of wisdom is to call things by the right names" Ancient Chinese Proverb
" Lets call a spade a spade" Modern American Proverb
Pasteurization is not cleaner milk it is a technolgy that makes it look clean when it is just processed filth and makes the toxic dead soup have a longer fake shelf life.
I my humble opinion our greatest challenge is not the FDA or corruption or even big dairy. Big dairy is on the verge of BK and glutted with milk they can not sell.
Our biggest challenge is "educating the public about nutrition" and how whole foods can change your life and your health.
If dollars are voted things change quick.
How do we do this??? I have tried many different ways and used different theories. It would seem that "most of the pubic just do not care about health".
How we do we shock the conscience of the unconscious to get this nation to wake up. The media is not going to do it…their existance depends on dollars from dead milk ads.
In CA raw milk consumption continues to grow but at a slow rate of about 10% per year…it appears word of mouth works pretty well….but nothing happens easily or quickly. It is a slow growth even though the testimonials are awesome.
Any ideas….perhaps more articles in mainstream digests and magazines.
Something like…."People Being Saved by RAW MILK when Doctors Fail".
Mark
Meaning – we are raised by caring parents who take us to pediatricians and doctors. When we are sick we are given medicine and then we become well again. This is our way of life and we don’t know to question it.
We don’t question it until things start to go horribly wrong, until we’re told that, young though we are, we now have degenerative and chronic illnesses that will need medication for the rest of our lives, medication that we react so strongly to we cannot even get out of bed.
It is THEN that we start to question. We realize we feel horrible and something is very very wrong. Our trust in doctors has been shaken (sometimes irreparably) and we go to look for answers that make sense. I found my sensible answers in whole and natural foods, and so are others.
The problem is we don’t go searching until something goes wrong. We think "Why fix what isn’t broken?" Except we ARE broken, we just don’t know it yet.
David Gumpert