Deceivable Dairy I

Clean, white, wholesome milk, cream, cheeses, butter, yogurt and ice cream - very common ingredients within the diet of Canadians.

Dairy was recently the centre of attention throughout the Canadian media, following a raid on a farm in Ontario where raw milk was being produced and sold. As the sale of raw milk is prohibited throughout Canada, this exposure reintroduces the controversy surrounding the standard pasteurization of milk products.

Dairy products are a staple of the Canadian diet, but how much information are Canadians missing out on? As one of the most aggressive marketers within the agriculture/food industry, dairy receives a pretty positive image. But behind the production of milk are issues surrounding animal welfare, environmental impacts and consumer health.

As this topic is so unexplored by the media, this will mark the first of a 2-part series on Dairy production in Canada. Join us as we explore the surprisingly un-chartered territory of dairy: raw milk vs. pasteurized, grass-fed vs. grain-fed, environmental impacts of dairy systems, organic dairy, animal welfare, and how the veal industry is a byproduct of your stick of butter.

Guests

Sally Fallon - President and Treasurer, Weston A. Price Foundation (Washington D.C.) - A nonprofit charity founded in 1999 to disseminate the research of nutrition pioneer Dr. Weston Price, whose studies of isolated non-industrialized peoples established the parameters of human health and determined the optimum characteristics of human diets. The Campaign for Real Milk is a project of the Foundation, and promotes the production and consumption of pasture-raised raw milk products. Sally is a journalist, chef, nutrition researcher, homemaker, and community activist. She is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (NewTrends).

Dr. Alan Fredeen - Professor, Plant and Animal Science, Nova Scotia Agricultural College (Truro, NS) - Comprising NSAC's Department of Plant and Animal Sciences is the Atlantic Pasture Research Group. The APRG is an informal association of scientists in the Atlantic region with an interest in research on grazing animals and pastures. Among Dr. Fredeen's areas of interest, is the environmental comparisons of pasture-raised dairy versus the more conventional confined systems.

Ric Llewellyn - Jerseyland Organics (Grand Forks, BC) - A family owned and operated dairy. Ric & Vickie Llewellyn settled there in 1985 with their herd of pure bred Jersey cattle that now number 95(+) head. In 1994 Jerseyland Cheese began commercial production after completing its transition to "Certified Organic" status. Thus making Jerseyland B.C.'s & Western Canada's first "organic" dairy and Western Canada's first producer of organic cheeses and yogurts.