Bl#—-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 5,1982 First graders discover the official drink BY SALLY BAIR Staff Correspondent MOUNT JOY Milk is now the official state drink in Penn sylvania, but despite widespread publicity there are some segments of the population who are still finding out about it. A very unscientific survey of one first grade class at Farmdale Elementary School in the Hemp field School District in Lancaster revealed that while none of them knew the state flower or the state tree, a few guessed correctly that milk was the state drink (It’s not surprising they don’t know these things since Pennsylvania history A - _ j. TSJfv * Jisk Milkshakes make school lunches fun, plus nutritious BY JOYCE BUPP Staff Correspondent HAGERSTOWN, Md. - While schools across the country con tinue to watch declining numbers in their school lunch programs, Washington County, Maryland high school cafeterias are packing them in. The reason for the resurgence of teens buying lunches in these western Maryland schools is largely summed up in one word: milkshakes. At Washington County’s seven high schools, milkshakes are served free with the 95-cent lunch entree cost. For the relatively few who carry their lunches, or choose not to eat a full meal, a milkshake can be purchased at the cost of faO cents The purpose of offering milkshakes in oui school lunch program was not to sell milkshakes, but to increase par ticipation in eating the nutritious, balanced lunch-program meal,” says the county’s school food service manager Don Trumble Trumble, a former food service specialist with the Holiday inn motel chain, has been with the school district for a dozen years, first as a food service instructor and then heading the lunch program comes up in the fourth grade, and that grade did learn about milk as the state drink ) The first one to respond to the question of the state drink suggested it was water. That’s a pretty good guess because there’s lots of that this spring, and at least it is not one of those carbonated beverages The second child to guess was J J. Helm who correctly said milk When questioned about this knowledge he admitted, T didn’t know but 1 just guessed that it was milk because it is good for you ’ ’ Now there is a first grader who is going to go places > <>•’*”* •>» V d_ The school lunch program is self funded. As government budget cutting at state and federal levels has reduced financial aid, lunch cost per student escalated. And, as the cost climbed, the lines through the cafeterias grew shorter. Concerned that students were eating fewer and fewer nutritious lunches, Trumble hit upon the enticement of serving milkshakes as part of the full meal, en couraging students to buy the complete, balanced lunch. Stiff federal guidelines on the lunch program spell out that the meals must include certain amounts of dairy products That meant a milkshake had to meet the per-meal ounce serving level, plus being tasty, and served with sufficient speed and volume to fit into tight lunch period scheduling After extensive research and questioning, administration and board members agreed to go along with funding the milkshake machines Introduced into the first Inal cafeterias last Septembei, the milkshakes were an instant, resounding success After a full school yeai of chugging down shakes, students are as en thusiastic as ever, carrying away nearly 3,200 milkshakes pei day The kids thought they weie fantastic,” recalls Trumble Initial Vv ***s These first graders at Farmdale Elementary Cynthia Artz, teacher, pours School offer a milk toast saluting June Dairy anticipates the refreshing glass Month with Pennsylvania’s official beverage. First graders interpret their views on cows and the dairy industry through art. f*\ concern by parents, and again recently by a group of area dairy producers, that the shakes were some sort of imitation product that ~ . - g 0 ‘ . jshington the dining area. As a result of the milkshake County. Md high school cafeteria lines without machine introduction, more students are taking a milkshake. But some of the popular buying school lunches again dairy drinks never even make it out the door to - ’yt{ A second child knew tor sui e that milk was the stale drink but since he is the son ot this writer he was disqualified tor having heaid me making arrangements with his teacher One thoughttul child questioned, What was it before' ” The rest ot the class en thusiastically agreed that milk was probably a good choice and they all nodded in agreement that people will probably drink more milk now that it is the official state drink. That’s good news for the dairy industry! Robin Wolfmger, 7, explained why milk is the stale drink "It has vitamins and minerals and doesn’t have any sweets.” Robin thinks she drinks 10 glasses of milk a day, mostly in the morning and says, “It makes me feel good. ’’ Dairymen will be pleased to know that some children in the class claim to drink up to II glasses a day. If that is so, how can there be a surplus ! The surplus must come from those who think they drink just one glass a day. Or more likely, from children like the two boys who said they didn’t like milk. This did not keep them from has been overcome after the shake mix content was explamed. Federal guidelines require that eight-ounces of low-fat milk per y» yy drinking milk when it was ottered as a refreshement, or trom taking seconds' There was a lot ot uncertainty about the amounts ot milk actually being consumed, but Eric Shop!, b, really likes it, saying, 1 drink three or tour - or maybe tive glasses every day ” Seth Bair, 7, was non-conunittal about his like for milk, but did say that strawberry milk is his favorite and volunteered some information for the others, "1 know how many glasses you should drink in a day - three.” Timothy Myers, 7, said he was pleased that milk was selected as the state drink, adding, "1 like milk. 1 like milkshakes too. 1 make them in little glasses with ice cream. It tastes really good.” He also demonstrated how he shook the little glass with the milk and the ice cream by placing his hand over the top of the glass • it sounds messy, but he seems to think it’s a good way! Andy Strube, 7, differed from some ot his classmates by ad mitting forcefully, "I hate chocolate milk. 1 drink milk when 1 (Turn to Page B 15) meal be served, while whole milk may be offered as well. Each shake meets at least that (Turn to Page B 15) •*» 1 ■'f ft 4* * as the groups of milk. i'f f I
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers