42
—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 8,1978
Pouring a glass of milk
this Dairy Princess who is
Teaching nutrition
to children
Is goal
of Beverly Hershey
- By SUSAN KAUFFMAN
Staff Writer
COCHRANVILLE - Chester County’s
dairy princess Beverly Ann Hershey is
concerned with teaching and promoting
good nutrition and eating habits to young
children. She says, “If they start to like
milk when they are young, they will s
probably drink it the rest of their lives.” \
Bev Hershey has zeroed in on the
younger segment of the population in her
dairy promotional work as a natural
outgrowth of her involvement in her
college studies. She will be returning in the
Fall to Messiah College to continue as a
sophomore with a Home Economics major
and an early childhood education minor.
This dairy princess’s knowledge of dairy
products, nutrition, and eating habits of
■ the American family is not limited to her
own background on her parents’ farm or
information gathered from textbooks,
however. This Summer she has been
seeing first-hand the tastes of people of all
ages who stop to dine at Historic Strasburg
Restaurant. Bev works fulltime at this
establishment for the Summer, and has
noticed a few traits in the American
public’s eating habits already.
“The menus for the children's platters
all include milk as the beverage. The
majority of the children ask if they can
substitute sodas. Many times their parents £
allow them to do that. Some parents, not \
many, will insist that they dnnk their milk
or at least ask them if they have had any
milk yet that day,” Bev explained.
“Very few adults order milk. I think
most adults don’t think milk is important
for them, too,” she added.
Bev proposes that the children, and
parents as well, have had good teaching
somewhere along the way about good
nutrition but prefer the taste of less
nutritional “junk foods.”
to go with some freshly baked cookies is a
an enthusiastic promoter of refreshing milk
As a 4-H leader for the past two years for
the Glen-Hi 4-H club, she recalls that when
the younger members were asked in roll
call to name the food group a food product
belonged to, all were able to do so with
ease. Getting children as well as adults to
eat what they know is good for them is not
as easy as teaching the basic information,
Bev concluded.
Although Bev admits that there are a lot
more commercials for dairy products
presently being viewed on television than
in the past, the majority of the T.V.
commercials geared especially to the
younger child are not nutritionally wise
choices.
“I don’t know how much the milk
producer can stand to take out of his milk
check for advertisement, but I feel that is |
is a necessary thing to do,” he says. “To
compete with soft drinks and other
products, the dairy fanner must advertise
his product which is superior in food value. _
Maybe powdered drinks are cheaper by
the quart but what nutntion do you get
from Kool-Aid? ” she quened.
In addition to seeing more dairy product
mass-media advertising recently, Bev also
sees an improvement or increased con
sumer interest in nutrition and natural
foods.
“This is where milk has a lot going for it.
It is an advantage for milk, here, because
it is a natural product,” she pointed out.
“To make milk a more appealing drink,
the addition of flavorings such as
chocolate and the powdered drink used for
the Magic Cows is one answer,” she added
When consumers complain that milk is
fattening or that it causes allergic reac
tions in some people or that it is
detrimental in some form to some people,
Bev answers these criticisms with the
statement, “There are so many kinds of
milk products available to suit your taste.
Dairy princess title
is dream come
true for Carol Zepp
NEW OXFORD - For Carol Zepp
becoming Adams County’s dairy princess
is really a dream come true. She says, “As
a little girl I always looked up to the dairy
princess and thought it would he fun to be
one.” Now that she is an official am
bassador of the dairy industry, Carol is
enthusiastic about promoting milk.
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norman
Zepp, New Oxford R 2, Carol will be a
sophomore at the Mont Alto campus of The
Pennsylvania State University where she
is majoring in journalism. '
Carol, 18, was crowned by Lita
McGough, the 1977 dairy princess.
Alternate was Judy Smith, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Luther Smith, Gettysburg
R 9.
Already busy promoting dairy products,
Carol has made four radio spots which
were used during “June is Dairy Month”
promotions, and she said she is looking
forward to writing articles for newspapers
and doing store promotions for milk and
cheese. One of her first jobs is to organize
a skit for the state dairy princess seminar
later this month, and she hopes that it will
be useful to her throughout the year in
presenting her message to organizations.
Speaking befoie the public is not new or
frightening to the recently selected dairy
princess. A veteran of eight years of 4-H,
she credits her 4-H experiences with
helping her gam the confidence to be able
to win the dairy princess title.
“I have given speeches in 4-H, so I was
delight for
||“S'
Beverly Hershey shows a flannelboard illustration which she made for us<
the Chester County dairy princess contest. Her promotion presentation
geared to smaller children and dealt with the story of creation and the cow.
The milk products, whether skim milk,
yogurt, frozen yogurt or sweet acidophilus
milk, to mention a few, are such a good
nutritional value compared to other non
dairy choices.”
“Adults are probably the hardest to get
to dnnk milk,” Bev suggested. “They
think milk is only for children.”
“Teenagers should drink milk because it
promotes healthy skin and shiny hair.
Teenagers are very concious of the way
they look but are probably the worst
eaters, nutrition wise,” she feels.
Although she sees a lot of work to be
done with individuals in older age
brackets, Bev sees more opportunities for
her to promote milk to younger children.
By SALLY BAIR
Staff Writer
%& •r' ~ii4-
i *,
Homestead Notes
able to collect my thoughts on stage,” she
says.
This Spring she was keynote speaker for
4-H Capitol Days, where she addressed a
breakfast meeting of legislators and 4-
, H’ers on the topic “What 4-H Means to
Me.”. She has given the speech to other
groups as well.
The stage appearance during the contest
was no problem for Carol. “I wasn’t
nervous because I knew almost the who'p
audience. They were all farmers I knew.’
Two years ago she bad entered the contest,
but recalled, “Then there were just faces
in the crowd. I was sort of young then, but
it was good practiceforme.”
In her interview on stage she recalled
being questioned about the future of the
family farm. She said she sees it as “un
certain, with so many city people moving
to the country. I think we must preserve
farmland as much as possible.”
Carol is very familiar with the milking
operation in her father’s herd of 00
Holsteins. She said she can do everything
from assembling the milke-- to milking the
cows and cleaning the equipment.
This dairy princess is very enthusiastic
about living in the country. “I wouldn’t
trade the peaceful atmosphere and the
clean air for anything. It is the best place
in the world to grow up. There is hard
work, but it is rewarding,” she says.
She added that many of her school
friends do not live in the country, and she
tells them the virtures of farm life.
(Turn to Page 46)
For her three minute promotional pai
the Chester County dairy princess cor
this Spring, Bev worked up a flannel!
presentation tracing the Creation, ant
particular creation of the cow for
and Eve’s benefit. As the presem
progressed, Bev included the nutriti
value of milk for the various ages
infant to grandparent.
“I am not sure what my presem
will be for the state contest, but I am
that it will deal with some sort of v ;
display for children,” Bev exp)
“Children are very unpressionab)
need something visual they can ■
ber,” she added.
(Turn to Page 46)