AgBC's: M is for Milk

Nothing goes better with cookies or cake than a nice cold glass of milk! Yum! So be sure to think of the dairy farmers of America the next time you enjoy your favorite sweet treat with a cold, refreshing class of milk!

But have you ever thought about all of the hard work that gets that milk from the farm to you? Dairy farmers don't get to sleep in on the weekends and the cows don't wait until the presents are opened on Christmas morning. Every day, every morning and every night the cows must be fed, cared for and milked. Nutritionists work hard to calculate the perfect, balanced ration to help the cows be as healthy and productive as possible.

Feed mill workers mix and deliver the feed that was made from grains grown by still more farmers. The cows are fed, the stalls are cleaned, and the cows are milked each and every day.  Decisions are made about which bulls the cows should be bred to to produce an even better generation of cows than the generation before.

Milk trucks come to collect the milk almost daily. The milk is transported to a processing facility where it is pasteurized and either bottled as fresh milk to turned into other delicious dairy products like chees, cottage cheese, ice cream, butter and more.

But did you know you can actually make milk stiff? Think about it...then check out this cool experiment on the stiffening of milk.


Interested in learning more about dairy farms? Check out these cool links:

• How are dairy cows really treated?
• Making butter in your own kitchen
• Why 3-a-Day makes for healthy kids
• Ohio Dairy Farmers even has links letting you meet Ohio dairy farmers
• Check out the Discover Dairy curriculum

Back to School: Discover Dairy

August means it's time to head back to school. Teachers are scurrying to get their classrooms back in order. Moms are scurrying to finish their back to school shopping. And kids are scurrying to scrape up the last bits of enjoyment they can from summer. In honor of this oh-so-busy time of year, we're spending August highlighting some great educational resources to help you get ready  for the new school year.

Now back when I was in school, math was math and reading was reading and the two never seemed to mix. But educators today seem to be much more organized and creative when it comes to creating meaningful and memorable lessons that cut across traditional subject boundaries.

Such is the case with the new (and free) Discover Dairy curriculum with four new comprehensive designed specifically for middle school students. This hands-on program teaches students where their milk comes from and how dairy farmers contribute to our world all while applying science concepts to real-life situations. But it's not "just" science: the Discover Dairy program (which includes videos, reading guides and lab-based instruction) also meets educational science standards in math, science and reading. The curriculum was developed as a joint initiative of the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program, the Center for Dairy Excellence and the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and is funded by the Dairy Checkoff program.

These new lessons build on the existing Discover Dairy lessons that were launched in 2008 and designed for upper elementary students. Since it's launch, the series has been used in more that 300 Pennsylvania classrooms and more than 15 states. The Discover Dairy website also draws about 1,000 visitors each month and includes farm tour resources for farmers and interactive games for kids, such as Operation Dairy where kids put on their detective hats and join Cammie the Cow in discovering how cows are cared for on today's dairy farms.

Five different lessons are available for upper elementary students. Each lesson features multi-leveled activities to address different cognitive levels. Topics include:

• Animal Health
• Milk Safety
• Environment
• Community
• Nutrition

Middle school educators can use the four new lessons, each of which includes two lab activities, for students on:

• Animal Health
• Milk Safety & Quality
• Dairy's Role in the Environment
• Dairy's Role in the Community

So as you gear up to head back to school, don't forget: dairy and milk are not just for lunch time! They make great lessons, too. Interested in learning more about dairy? Be sure to check out these great dairy blogs to learn more about dairy production! 

And don't forget, teachers: Make sure your school is taking advantages of the resources available through the NFL's Fuel Up to Play 60 in-school initiative program to fight childhood obesity!

Homeschool? Check out these fun ways to make sure your kids are getting their "Three a Day!"

Make it 3-a-day for healthy kids!

It's oftentimes not easy to get kids to eat the things they should. But good nutrition is vital for healthy kids. As we continue our celebration of National Dairy Month, we want to share some great ideas for helping your kids get their "3-a-day" of dairy. These ideas come to us from our friends at the National Dairy Council and the NFL's Play 60 program.  For more information on the Fuel Up to Play 60 program and downloadable copies of their great educational resources, be sure to visit their website. The National Dairy Council also has tons of other great learning resources and lesson plans, so be sure to check those out if you teach at home or share them with any teachers you know, too.

Children’s bones are like bank accounts. They’re depositing calcium now for later in life. By age 20, the average young person has acquired about 98 percent of his or her skeletal mass. Getting adequate calcium and plenty of physical activity now can be the best defense against osteoporosis later in life. Among school-age children, only four out of 10 boys and three out of 10 girls get the calcium they need each day. Consuming at least three – ideally four for 9 through 18 year olds – servings of milk, cheese or yogurt, gets students on track for turning these statistics around. A nutritious diet that includes at least 3-Every-DayTM of Dairy and plenty of physical activity helps children build the strongest bones possible. Dairy foods provide calcium and eight other essential nutrients, including protein, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin, and niacin to help keep bones strong and bodies fit. (From 3-Every-Day of Dairy for Stronger Bones, Grade 4 classroom activity)

1) Make your own pizza bar! There are great resources for schools online at the Fuel Up for 60 site mentioned above, but you can do this for dinner in your own home, too! Just use the extra large refrigerated biscuits and roll them out to make individual, kid-sized pizza crusts. They make a great snack, or let each person make several for a meal. Offer plenty of healthy topics for kids to pick from, including a variety of low-fat or fat-free cheeses, jalepenos, black olives, hot sauce, peppers, fresh tomoatoes, pineapple, cooked chicket, etc. You get the idea. And what kid doesn't like pizza? You can also make a pizza with low-fat or fat-free cheese for breakfast! You'll be a meal-time superstar!

2) Have a potato bar! Potatoes are always a hit with kids, so offer them along witha  variety of low-fat and fat-free cheses, broccoli, chives, nuts, low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt mixed with spices, etc. The sky (and your immagination) are the limit here! Even Martha Stewart gets in on the family potato bar action (the pic above links you back to her take on it).

3) Take it up a notch with a tasty taco bar! Offer the kids lettuce, tomato, low-fat and fat-free cheses, hot sauce, salsa, low-fat sour cream, jalepenos, etc. Again, be creative! It's gotta be a hit..even Rachel Ray recommends it! (Click the picture above to be linked back to her recipe and instructions.)

4) Yowsers! Yogurt! It doesn't get much simpler than a yogurt bar...just set out a few flavors of low-fat and fat-free yogurt with toppings like fruit, whole-grain granola, buts, raisins, etc. Or, if you're looking to cool down and beat the heat, how about making your own frozen yogurt? Those cute little mini-Danonino yogurt cups are perfect: just stick a popsicle stick through the lid and freeze...that's it! Click the picture above to link to more Danonino recipes and ideas.

There you go: four simple and easy ways to get more dairy in your kids' diets.

Be sure to check out the cool online games for kids where they can learn more about the importance of good nutrition and plenty of exercise at Fuel Up to Play 60.

Wanna learn more about modern dairy technology? Check out this piece on how robots are used on one Wayne County, Ohio dairy farm! 
 

June is Dairy month! Let's make some butter!

Nothing makes a summer day better than a big old ice cream cone! So this summer, our hats are off to those fabulous dairy farmers who make it possible to enjoy all those yummy treats like ice cream,  yogurt, butter, pudding, cottage cheese...this list goes on! In honor of Dairy Month, all month long we're going to be posting about cool dairy learning and activities...except for the last week of the month. That week we'll be posting about turkeys, because my good friend Katie over at On the Banks of Squaw Creek reminded me that June is turkey month, too!

Our first kid-friendly, dairy learning opportunity of the month is butterific! No really...it's making butter! The idea for this activity came from one of our super bloggy friends (who also happens to be a former employee here at OARDC) the Farmgirl over at Farmgirl Follies. She's a super-mom, blogging rockstar, so be sure to check her out!

The supply list is simple: 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and a food processor. You'll also need a cheesecloth, bowl and sieve (or you can make do with a colander, coffee filter and bowl.) Optional are honey and cinnamon.  Just add the cream to your food processor and turn it on.

First, the cream will start to thicken:

Then, after about 5-6 minutes, chunks of creamy butter will appear. The liquid whey will remain at the bottom of the food processor. You'll hear a distinctly different sound from your food processor when this happens.

Now for the fun part: The Farmgirl is an super-duper, always prepared crafty domestic goddess of an over-achiever. I'm not. She used a cheesecloth and sieve to separate the butter and whey. For instructions and pictures on that, check out her super-fab blog. I made do with a colander and coffee filter to separate the butter from the whey.

Now your butter is done. Easy peasy, right? But this  is where the Farmgirl shows her genius: with optional ingredients of honey (about a tablespoon)...

And some cinnamon...

The end result? Super yum!

Now your kids will have had a good time, you have somethign fab for supper, and the kids know a little bit more about where their food comes from1

Just one last thing: to continue the dairy month celebration, we're going to be sharing one other cool dairy site a week that you should check out. This week, we suggest Two Maids a Milking.  These dairy girls will delight your taste buds with great recipes and let you know all about daily life on a working dairy farm. Enjoy!