A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 6, 2003 On The Farm With Pennsylvania Dairy Princess Carla Martin LOU ANN GOOD Food And Family Features Editor MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.) Growing up in a family of 13 sib lings no doubt is a noisy affair. Maybe that's why Carla Mar tin was so shy during her elemen tary years. Or maybe it was be cause she followed two vivacious older sisters in the family lineup. Whatever the reason, her par ents, David and Robbin Martin, remember Carla, 19, as being so introverted that when she was homeschooled and required to write weekly speeches and pres ent them before the family, she cried. Her parents praised her efforts and taught her siblings to verbal ize the positive aspects of each of Carla’s speeches. Slowly, Carla’s confidence grew. People who know her today say that Carla’s strengths are definitely public speaking and writing. Those talents have been evident to audiences who heard her award-winning speech in September at the Pennsylvania Dairy Princess Pageant, Camp Hill. Poised, articulate, and theatri cal, Carla’s performance was one of the reasons judges selected her as the state dairy princess. In that role she continues to be called upon to present impromp tu and prepared speeches before audiences of all sizes. Now, Carla enjoys speaking so much that she is considering switching from a planned nursing career to one in ag sciences and communications. “I had three jobs before becom ing state dairy princess, but I cut back to one, so I can give more time to the dairy industry,” Carla said. The one she kept is a certi fied nursing assistant at Mount Hope (Retirement) Home. She also teaches piano lessons to five children, works on the family farm, and with the care of her siblings. "Being the state dairy princess has really helped me realize how big the dairy industry is, and the many different aspects of agricul ture. I've had the opportunity to tour other farms and see how they operate, which is really in teresting," Carla said. After being home-schooled all her life, Carla said meeting peo ple from so many different back grounds sometimes intimidates her. d® a V /£ unit mow y0u, ... TCTWA4~* 1624 Rt 212 Quakertown Pa 18951 Phone (610) 346 7340 Fax (610)346 8041 AMISHTOWN GENERAL STORE, LLC Hardware • Tools • Martin Senour Paints PIWAiT ItuUOla KlsW 1 ! OBOSHTCH.I Nuts & Bolts By The Pound Animal Health Supplies Air Compressors & Fittings, Plumbing Supplies, Lawn & Garden, Volleyball & Croquet Sets, Trikes, Scooters, Express Wagons 147-A Aniishlown Rd. New Holland, PA 17557 Phone: 717*355*9400 <'fiber* U-^hfA A§<PM<Wiifs Wi Sat-7.A*W .*2-PW “So many of them have been involved in extracurricular school activities, which sounds so im pressive, but I haven’t had that opportunity,” she said. Not that she’s complaining. Carla loves her large family with siblings Melissa married to Ervin Stoltzfus: Josh, 22, in partnership with his dad; Laura married to James Stahl and with the only Martin grandchild; Abigail, 17; Susanna, 15; Naomi, 13; Ramo na, 11; Caleb, 9; Noah. 8; Samuel. 6; Sarah, 4; Elijah, 2; and another baby sibling due Jan. 25. On the Martins' 300-acre Danda Farm, with its organic dairy and beef operation, they also manage a small store to sell their organic dairy and beef products. Animals are grazed and fed only certified organic feed without antibiotics, synthetic hormones, pesticides, or herbi cides. The farm also raises 50,000 broilers for New York’s live mar ket. The organic milk is shipped to Natural by Nature, a cooperative formed by David and 18 other farmers about one year ago. The Martins have been an organic dairy since 1995. The cooperative markets the milk and milk products such as cottage cheese, sour cream, whip ped cream, and butter. The Mar tins purchase some of the value added products back so they can sell them from their farm store. Although married and living off the farm, daughter Melissa over sees the store operation with other family members helping out. In the debate about total graz ing versus grain-fed, Martin takes a more middle-of-the-road stance. He believes in the value of grass-fed, but also believes feed ing organic grains is beneficial. In California, raw milk is sold at supermarkets. Pennsylvania law forbids this. Martin under stands the government concerns but believes people should be al lowed a choice. Growing up drinking raw milk, Martin still recalls the first time he tasted pasteurized milk at school. He was astounded at the dif ference in taste and asked, “They call this milk?” Now, he is concerned about another issue that affects taste (Turn to Page A 23) 8:30 am - 9 am 9 am - 10:00 am 10:00 am - 10:43 am 10:45 am - 11:45 am 11:45 am -12 noon 12 noon -1 pm 1 pm - 2 pm Music plays a vital role in the Martin family, where all siblings learn to play the piano and sing. Carla, seated center, plays the piano and writes music, which the family sometimes incorporates into musical performances. LanChester Pork Council Production Forum & Annual Meeting Dec. 16th 8:30 am - 2pm Intervet Pennsylvania Pork Producers Yoder’s Restaurant, New Holland, PA Registration Boehringer Ingelheim * Water Delivery Vaccines and Enterisol Ileitis SWAP Overview Intervet: * Improve Breeding Herd Efficiency with Matrix National Pork Board Spokesman Lunch and Annual Meeting PQA Level 111 Recertification RSVP to Kurt Good at 717‘443-577b by Dec. 10th SPONSORS Hatfield Quality Meats Leidys
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