'Mom, where does food come from?'
Montour County farmers Herb ami Margaret Zeager prwide young city Ms Mth some !(bod far thought'
BY MARGIE FUSCO
Staff Correspondent
LIMESTONEVILLE - When
the boys and girls from Wat
sontown Elementary School
scramble off the bus, their
remarks are familiar. “Pe-yew. It
stinks.” On this humid morning,
with air so thick it sticks to skin
and clothes, the scent of farming is
more cloying than clean.
Melissa, who just turned six, is
unusually quiet this morning. Like
most of the children in her kin
dergarten class, she lives in town.
For many of them, this will be the
first visit to a farm.
Six years ago Herb and
Margaret Zeager began tours at
Shady Hill Farm, near
Lunestoneville, Montour County.
“It started out as a request from
one class,” Margaret recalls. And
it grew. This week alone, five
groups have come to visit.
It’s been a hectic morning for the
Zeagers. Until the first group of
children, a preschool, arrived the
Zeagers were in the fields trying to
get the last of their snap beans
planted before the rain. A ship
ment of 11,000 chicks, due at 7:30
this morning, was delayed when
the driver got a flat tire. The
chicks and the preschoolers arrive
together at 9 a.m. The children are
delighted, even if the Zeagers
aren’t.
When the Watsontown
Elementary students arrive, Herb
begins his presentation, showing a
chart of ten things the children will
Watsontown Elementary students examine feed in the hayloft.
see on their visit. As he points to a
picture of a pig, the children again
offer “Pe-yew” remarks.
Margaret laughs softly behind
them. It’s a secret laugh. She
knows the magic that’s coming.
The children inspect a pair of
white rabbits, then race to the
paddock fence to see Daisy, the
horse, and the ewe that is her
pasture mate. The childish touches
are tentative. Even the boldest
hands, George’s and Chad’s,
hestitate a second before they
stroke Daisy’s velvet muzzle.
Jennifer, a shy child, can’t bring
herself to touch the horse. But she
comes away from the fence
smiling, delighted just by the sight.
The animals know they’re the
center of attention. Daisy departs
with her tail flying and prances
once around the paddock like a
Kentucky Derby contender. The
children break into applause.
Lassie, the farm dog, prowls the
crowd jealously, pawing likely
candidates to beg a handshake.
She tries to draw attention with a
bark and a cat chase, but finds
little interest. Finally she catches
the eye of three-year-old Sabrina,
who hugs Lassie, despite arms too
tiny to reach around the dog's huge
white ruff. Cassie becomes
Sabrina’s companion for the rest of
the visit.
The children are moving single
file into the bam. Five thousand
chicks are ready to be admired.
The room is warm and com
fortable, filled with the clean smell
Johnny and Anna hold the new chicks.
of sawdust and new life. It feels
good against the gathering cold
and portending clouds outside.
“It’s a good day for starting
chicks,” Herb tells the children.
Now there are plenty of questions.
What’s that light for? Why are they
drinking Kool-Aid? Are they eating
sawdust 7
An unlucky beetle, hoping to
escape the rain, has flown into the
George and Chad reach tentatively to pet Daisy.
• •
y
rff
pen. One chick pecks boldly at its
back. A second follows. Soon there
are a dozen, in a hail of cheeps and
chirps, doing battle with the thick
black carapace. The comedy goes
unnoticed by the children, hanging
on Herb’s answers. Finally a little
girl has to ask, “What do they feel
like?”
Herb hesitates only a moment
before he decides to let 120 children
touch his new chicks. “We’re big
on promoting the farm image,”
Margaret has said. “We like to do
public relations.” Indeed the
Zeagers are committed to
education. Herb is president of the
Warrior Run School Board and
serves on the regional Agriculture
in Education Task Force. It was a
discussion on how to educate the
public about farming that made
him invite a reporter to experience
a farm visit. “That’s how it
starts,” Herb said. And now he’s
making good on his commitment.
Herb and Margaret circle the
pen, picking up chicks and placing
them in eager hands. There’s no
fear now, only happy curiosity. “I
like them,” Melissa finally says.
Her eyes are glowing in the dim
light. “They’re cute.”
The hayloft is the next stop. Herb
explains the feed, including silage,
which he describes as “tossed
salad for cows.” The children step
up to examine the feed. Set apart
from the others by his vision and
coordination problems, Todd finds
a special experience here. The
other children pass by the feed
with slight interest. But Todd lives
in. His fingers come alive in the
NEWARK, Del. - There has
been considerable publicity about
the relationship between low in
take of calcium-rich foods and the
bone-thinning condition called
osteoporosis. But researchers also
have evidence that calcium can
affect blood pressure.
Adding calcium to the diet has
been found to reduce blood
pressure in people with high or
normal blood pressure, Dr. Sue
Snider says. It has a greater effect
on hypertensive individuals than
on those with normal blood
pressure.
In a pilot study, scientists ob
served that 46 hypertensive per
sons consumed 20 to 25 percent less
calcium than 44 individuals with
normal blood pressure. Except for
shell corn and soybeans. His nose
delights in the hay and silage. He
beams, his senses alive. At the
next stop, the steer pen, he invites
a heifer over to feel her sticky
nose.
The other children are con
cerned with their own noses,
holding them as they prepare to
enter the hog house. The rain is
about to break, and the smell of
hog manure has become over
powering. One teacher drops back,
excusing herself in a whisper and
saying she’s getting sick. The
children persevere, entering the
building.
But the inside is a surprise. The
smell is gone, carried away by
good cross ventilation, aided by the
deluge coming down at last. The
hogs press forward, reaching with
curious snouts, as if they were the
observers and not the observed.
The animals are pink, brown,
spotted, and most of all clean as
they compete for a place under the
shower spray.
“Hey, that wasn’t so bad,” one
boy says as the group leaves the
building.
“Naw. It didn’t even smell,”
another agrees.
“I liked it," a girl chimes in.
The children climb into my hay
wagons for a final trip that will end
at their school bus. As they settle
down, Melissa suddenly stands up
and announces loudly, “My Pappy
raises pigs. He has rabbits, three
little ones, too.”
She’s found out something im
portant, something of value in her
own family. And she’s proud of it.
Calcium helps control
blood pressure
calcium, the diets of the two
groups were the same. Similar
results have been noted in other
studies comparing calcium intake
and blood pressure, Snider says.
For example, in a study of
pregnant women ranging in age
from 20 to 35, adding calcium to the
diet reduced blood pressure.
During the last three months of
pregnancy, those who had con
sumed more calcium had lower
blood pressure.
Much remains to be learned
about the relationship between
calcium and blood pressure,
Snider says. But research con
tinues to reinforce the recom
mendation that adults should have
the equivalent of two to three cups
of milk daily.