Fink Elementary Keeps Milk Cool
CARLISLE (Cumberland Co.) “The bottom line is that stu
— The Lyall J. Fink Elementary dents will not drink milk that is
School in Middletown has a cool, not ice cold,” said Carolyn
new way to keep its milk cold Weaver, nutrition education spe
during lunch. cialist for Dairy Council Middle
The school cafeteria now Atlantic. “Students who bypass
fPPI"* 8 a non-electric rniik because it is served warm
School Cool cooler it won in a are i os ing out on the calcium and
random drawing for its partici- other nu trients milk provides.”
pation in “The Totally Cool Milk
Temperature Study,” a program miaiiv
designed to ensure that cold milk tlc ’ T* 16 X
is served in public schools. 9 00 Teniperature Study
“The Totally Cool Milk Tem- ,s one segment of the Food Safe
perature Study” is a joint effort P ro J ect f unded m
to keep milk cold in schools P ar * through a matching grant
through proper handling and re- awarded by the Pennsylvania
frigeration. Studies show that 60 Department of Agriculture,
percent of children who currently Schools participating in the
do not drink milk at school program were provided with
would drink it if it were colder. Milk Temperature Quality As-
Gathered around the new milk cooler at Lyall J. Fink
Elementary School in Middletown are, from left, students
Mande Rushow and Keith Jeffries, interim school food
service director Carl Broniman of Nutrition Inc., Carolyn
Weaver of Dairy Council Middle Atlantic, school principal
Joseph Rasimas and student Brittany Holsky.
surance materials, including digi
tal thermometers and data re
cording sheets. School
foodservice personnel were in
structed to record the tempera
ture of the milk when it arrived
at the school, prior to each lunch
period, and at the end of the last
lunch period.
“The goal was to ensure that
the optimal temperature of 41
degrees Fahrenheit was being
maintained,” Weaver said.
“Temperatures of the milk cooler
also were monitored throughout
the day for the same 41 degree
temperature ceiling.”
Foodservice employee Ruth
Rodkey was in charge of the pro
gram at Fink Elementary. For
three consecutive days, she duti
fully monitored the temperature
of the milk served to the 250-plus
students during lunch.
“I thought it was a good idea,”
Rodkey said of the program.
“We learned that the tempera
ture of our milk was very consis
tent. We handle the milk rather
quickly (after delivery), placing it
into our coolers.”
According to Weaver, school
foodservice learned the impor
tance of keeping milk cold and
monitoring milk temperatures
throughout the day. “The only
way to guarantee that milk is
cold is to check the temperature
when it arrives at the school and
at the beginning of each lunch
period,” she said. “The milk tem
perature kits we provided offer
the tools and incentive to main
tain optimal quality.”
At Fink Elementary, students
now can pluck a carton of their
favorite milk from their new
cooler, which features the popu
lar “got milk?” logo. One hun
dred seventy-six Pennsylvania
schools in Dairy Council’s serv
ice area participated in the pro
gram this spring. And while the
majority of schools are doing a
good job in keeping their milk
cold, some are not. “We will con
tinue to work with these schools
to ensure that children have cold
milk to drink,” Weaver said.
Pa. Farm Bureau Commends
General Assembly
CAMP HILL (Cumberland S.B. 300 also prohibits munici-
Co.) The state’s largest general palities from passing ordinances
farming organization said recent- which would restrict agricultural
ly they are pleased with the pas- operations or changes and ex
sage of two key pieces of legisla- pansions to agricultural opera
tion. S.B. 300 and S.B. 141-7 were tions in areas where agriculture
both passed in the General As- was traditionally present. The
sembly. only exception to this part of the
“The passage of S.B. 300 is a law would be if it would have a
great step for Pennsylvania agri- direct adverse effect on public
culture,” said Guy Donaldson, health and/or safety,
president of the Pennsylvania The state legislature also
Farm Bureau. “S.B. 300 ensures passed S.B. 1417 recently. Farm
that local municipalities will Bureau strongly supported the
have to comply with the current bill, which will prorate the
state laws affecting agriculture, unused drought funds among eli
which include, the Ag Area Secu- gible farmers so that all $6O mil
rity Law, the Right to Farm Law lion in state drought assistance is
and the Nutrient Management distributed to producers.
Law.” “By distributing these addi-
“This is a giant step forward
for agriculture. It ensures that
future generations will have the
opportunity to farm in their com
munities,” said Donaldson.
Mini-Dairy
Continued From A 24
operation manager is Betty Van
Arsdale. Before beginning oper
ations, the plant had to receive
its licensing and certification to
process milk. With the first full
month of production and retail
sales in June, the cooperative
planned promotions every
weekend to draw people into
the store.
“We really want to appeal to
a niche market,” said Graybill.
“Our products have no preser
vatives, and farmers don’t use
got mi
tional funds, farmers will contin
ue to work toward recovering
from their terrible losses due to
last summer’s drought,” said
Donaldson.
any BST on their cows.”
“Once the plant is at full ca
pacity, we do anticipate that the
farmers will get a slightly higher
price for their milk,” said Gray
bill. A governing board of farm
ers oversees the operation for
the cooperative.
The cooperative has self-im
posed milk quality standards
that are much higher than the
state requires. “Our emphasis is
on producing a high quality, full
flavor dairy product through the
mini-dairy.”
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