Slow Food home | About us | Foundation | Editore | Sloweb | Press Office | Store     Sloweb     Home | Sloweek | Voices from the Slow world | Slow Talk | News | Watch & Listen             Farmer Begins Hunger Strike 28 Nov 06 - Sloweb Early last Tuesday morning Glencolton Farm near Durham, in Grey County, southwestern Ontario, was raided by the officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Natural Resources who impounded milk operations equipment and forbade farmer Michael Schmidt from selling raw milk to his cow share program consisting of 150 raw milk consumers across the province. Schmidt is a cheesemaker and a keeper of several endangered breeds of animals. His stock includes one of Canada's largest herds of Canadienne Cows, a breed listed in the Slow Food Ark of Taste. In 1995, Schmidt was put on two year’s probation after defending his right to continue with his raw milk production through court hearings. He stated clearly at that time that he intended to continue selling raw milk and serving his growing consumer base, but letters he wrote to the government ministers concerned received no response. At a press conference on his farm on Thursday, Schmidt announced that would go on a hunger strike until all of the equipment, documents and other items removed from this farm have been returned. He claimed that he government has to agree to be financially liable for the personal property of cow shareowners, and to agree in writing that the farm should be left alone to carry on its service to the 150 raw milk consumers, until and unless all of the issues have been dealt with in court or in the Legislative Assembly or House of Parliament. The government’s view is that production should not continue until the case has been settled in court, but this effectively puts Schmidt out of business. Click here to read Michael Schmidt’s statement to the press (in PDF format). For more information: www.glencoltonfarms.com   News archive from Terramadre News archive from Slowfood Foundation for Biodiversity News archive from University of Gastronomic Sciences News archive from Watch & Listen           News     United States - 01 Sep 10     Eataly in New York     The philosophy and campaigns promoted by Slow Food over the past twenty years to strengthen regional, tasty and sustainable food, and reconnect consumers with the origin of their food, have...           News archive     Brazil - 17 Aug 10     Gastromotiva     Terra Madre chef and Slow Food convivium empower disadvantaged youth to enter culinary careers ...     Russia - 16 Aug 10     Biodiversity Hangs in the Balance     Slow Food joins the protest against destruction of Europe’s largest repository of rare fruit ...     United Kingdom - 13 Aug 10     Food Justice     Slow Food UK praises social justice report’s call for action ...     Philippines - 10 Aug 10     Against the Grain     The Indigenous Taguibong people in the Philippines continue to practice the traditional rice threshing and milling methods of their ancestors ...     Georgia - 05 Aug 10     Meeting in the Birthplace of the Vine     First Terra Madre Georgia held with a focus on wine and small producers ...     Italy - 03 Aug 10     Strengthening the Indigenous Voice     Slow Food enters into a partnership to advocate for indigenous groups around the world ...     Archive previous news   Slow Food 2010 - All rights reserved - P.iva 91008360041 - Powered by Blulab