Milk

lizb@herald-mail.com After watching a dairy steer get clipped for his upcoming stint in the show ring, a group of about 20 children made it clear they were hungry. The Citicorp Daycare Center took the youngsters to the Ag Expo at around 10:45 a.m. to beat the heat and watch the animals wash off. Many of the youngsters didn't think it was cool enough. "I wouldn't clip here because he'd spit at me and poop," said Ciera Redfer, 7. "It's cool. " Shannon Raffaniello, 9 and Cierra Shaffer, 9, noticed the cow looked a little heavy.

Consuming milk and milk products provides health benefits. People who have a diet rich in milk and milk products can reduce the risk of low bone mass throughout the life cycle. Foods in the milk group, with the best sources being milk, yogurt and cheese, provide nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body. These nutrients include calcium, potassium, vitamin D and protein. Diets rich in dairy products help build and maintain bone mass. This might reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

"Got milk?" may be a popular advertising slogan, but, unfortunately, for many teenagers it's also a pressing question. Current trends in soft-drink consumption among adolescents suggest that teens are drinking twice as much soda as milk. Twenty years ago, these statistics were just the opposite: teens were drinking two times as much milk as soda. What's worse is that the decline in milk consumption is not being made up by an increase in other calcium-rich dairy products. As a result, today's teens are consuming less calcium than their parents did as teens, which puts them at even higher risk for the bone-crippling disease osteoporosis later in life.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - One by one, Jared Faith picked up the paper cups and took a sip, swishing the liquid around in his mouth as if he were at a wine tasting. "That is 1 percent. ... That is skim," Faith said Monday after tasting the first two milk samples. After he had tasted all four samples of milk, Lola Rigas, a community health nurse with the Franklin County Health Center, gave him the bad news. "I didn't get any of them right," said Faith, a junior on the Chambersburg High School wrestling team.

At some point or another, every parent should have the experience of going along on a school field trip. Watching your child interact with friends, seeing teachers in action and participating in the activity can create lasting memories. And so it was with great anticipation that I accompanied my daughter and her friends to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. This was the first field trip we've had together. It was quite an adventure. Through February 2008, Maryland students in preschool through 12th grade are admitted free to the aquarium for field trips scheduled by a school.

- by Lynn F. Little Milk is a basic food that everyone in the family needs every day. Milk is called nature's perfect food, yet, despite the great taste and the fact that it's a good source of many vitamins and minerals, Americans are drinking less milk. Many believe that milk is high in fat and calories. Skim and 1 percent milk have little or no fat with all the calcium and other nutrients found in whole milk, and fewer calories. Milk is important for people of all ages - not just kids.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A $100 million milk factory is not in the future for the Eastern Panhandle, according to state and local officials. Robert T. Crawford, executive director of the Berkeley County Development Authority, said officials from the HP Hood dairy company had been looking at the Eastern Panhandle as a possible site for a new factory but decided late last month to look elsewhere. "My understanding is they had considered this area but changed their focus to farther west," said Crawford, adding he was not directly involved with the Hood search.

Jan. 17 - Jan. 21 Elementary Monday - no school. Tuesday - cheeseburger, potato tots, diced pears, juice bar and milk. Wednesday - pizza, tossed salad, applesauce, Italian ice and milk. Thursday - chicken nuggets, whipped potatoes and gravy, buttered bread, fresh fruit and milk. Friday - bread sticks with marinara sauce, potato wedges, corn, sliced peaches and milk. Middle/high school Monday - no school.

Cascade Elementary School fourth-grader Kiarra Wilson will occasionally get strawberry milk for lunch but said chocolate milk is her favorite. “It's like drinking candy,” she said. “I love chocolate.” Wilson, 10, said that her favorite meal is macaroni and cheese with chocolate milk. She was one of 14 students at Cascade Elementary asked Wednesday about their favorite type of milk to drink. Of those 14 students, eight said chocolate milk was their favorite, three preferred strawberry milk, one each went for vanilla, fat-free and unflavored, and lactose-free and unflavored.

The school system's got milk - from low-fat to fat and lactose free - in a variety of flavors. Chocolate is the favorite milk flavor of students in Washington County Public Schools, followed by vanilla, according to the school system's Food and Nutrition Services Supervisor Jeff Proulx. Washington County Board of Education members, who were about to vote on a contract for a milk supplier, asked Proulx about the vanilla flavoring and the sugar in flavored milk during a May 7 school board meeting.

May 15 to 21 The Washington County Commission on Aging offers noon lunches to anyone 60 years and older at six locations - Smithsburg, Keedysville, Williamsport and three in Hagerstown. Smithsburg, Keedysville and Williamsport are open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Potomac Towers, Walnut Towers and Francis Murphy are open Monday through Friday. The hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the days they are open. The agency requires that you call by 11:30 a.m. to give them a two-working-days reservation notice.

April 17 to 23 The Washington County Commission on Aging offers noon lunches to anyone 60 years and older at six locations - Smithsburg, Keedysville, Williamsport and three in Hagerstown. Smithsburg, Keedysville and Williamsport are open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Potomac Towers, Walnut Towers and Francis Murphy are open Monday through Friday. The hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the days they are open. The agency requires that you call by 11:30 a.m. to give them a two-working-days reservation notice.

The Maryland Dairy Industry Association will honor farms across the state as part of a statewide dairy farm beautification program. This is the fifth year for the Maryland Dairy of Distinction program. So far, 25 dairy farms have received the honor. Farms nominated for the Dairy of Distinction Award will be judged during spring and summer. Winners will be announced at the February 2014 Maryland Dairy Convention. All Maryland dairy producers are invited to submit an application for the award.

The Washington County Holstein Association held its annual banquet and awards meeting March 13. Ryan Shank, president of the Washington County Holstein Association, said the county Holstein field day will be July 6, at 10 a.m. at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center. He also announced that Dr. Matt Iager and family would host the county Holstein picnic this summer. Shank also said the association will host the 50th Maryland Holstein Convention and Sale in 2014.  The annual meeting and banquet will be held March 7 and the sale will be on July 11. Both events will be held at the ag center.