Why a Pennsylvania farmer uses hand-painted signs on hay bales to crusade for whole milk

Facing down a years-long decline in milk consumption and frustrated by what he saw as a lack of education about whole milk, a Lebanon County farmer took paintbrush to hay bale in late 2018.

“Drink Local Whole Milk” Nelson Troutman painted in broad strokes on the plastic-wrapped bale. “97% fat free.”

He plopped the bale at the edge of his property, thinking that it would raise a few eyebrows and maybe educate a few people that whole milk has 3.25 percent butter fat - making it 96.75 fat free. (Thinking that four-digit number was too long to fit on a hay bale, Troutman rounded up). 

"You can only put so much on a bale," he said.  

A few days later, a reporter from a weekly dairy newspaper reached out. The story ran on the front page in an early January edition of Farmshine. Then, the so-called “97 Milk” campaign took off. Now "bale boards" similar to the original dot the region, and the organization has posted photos on Facebook of bales in Wisconsin and Ohio. Troutman said farmers in South America have even picked up on the campaign.

Troutman sees it as an education campaign, and says he believes whole milk has been improperly characterized by health guidelines as unhealthy. 

“Not one person has come up to me yet and said ‘yeah, I knew that,’” he said about the fat content in whole milk. “We want to educate people.” 

It may seem an oddly specific crusade. But to Troutman and other dairy farmers, promoting whole milk is one of the few ways they can think to save the dairy industry from a depleting customer base.

In doing so, they have put themselves at odds with guidelines from health officials, who recommend people opt for low- and non-fat dairy. And although recent studies have suggested that fats in dairy aren’t as harmful as was once thought, some nutritionists say people shouldn’t completely switch over to whole milk just yet. 

Story continues after this video from a recent rally in Harrisburg

His argument: Milk fat is good for kids 

The problem for Troutman and other farmers began about a decade ago, when Congress passed the Michelle Obama-led Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, that revamped the national school lunch program. Part of the changes centered on reducing kids’ fat intake, meaning only lower-fat milk would be offered in school lunches.

From 2012: Schools scrambling to serve up healthier lunch choices

That, combined with health guidelines that recommended people stay away from higher-fat dairy, raised alarm for local farmers, who say the inferior taste of lower-fat milk has driven people away from dairy milk in general.

"I really feel that we are losing a generation of milk drinkers," said South Annville farmer Stacey Copenhaver.  "Just because of them having the 1 percent or low fat milk, I feel there’s a really big difference in taste to whole milk."

Troutman said they may still be able to get those drinkers back into whole milk, if they are able to educate them about what the extra butter fat actually means.

But the nutritional value of whole milk isn’t so clear cut.

Higher-fat dairy was taken out of school lunches for a reason. While only a few percentage points more fatty, whole milk has over 4 more grams of saturated fat in it than skim milk. 

The link between consumption of saturated fats -- those found in milk and other animal products -- is the main reason the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends people stick to lower-fat milk, said spokeswoman Debbie Petitpain. 

Whole milk also has roughly 60 calories more per glass than skim milk, Petitpain said. So while the drink might have only a few more percentage points in butter fat than skim milk, she said, consuming three glasses of it a day can have a significant impact on one’s overall diet.

“It adds up quickly,” she said. 

Dietary guidelines from the American Heart Association and other health organizations recommend children switch from drinking whole milk at the age of 2 to skim or lower-fat milk.  

But the thinking on saturated fats and their impact on cardiovascular health has changed in recent years, said Penn State Extension educator and registered dietitian Sharon McDonald.

“Saturated fat in general is not seen as the risk factor it once was,”’ she said. 

Recent studies have suggested dairy fats don’t have any significant negative impact on cardiovascular health, McDonald said, and some have even indicated it may even help with overall health.

But, Petitpain and McDonald noted it’s too early to make any conclusive determination on whether saturated fats from diary are as harmful as is currently thought.

“I don’t think we’re at a place to change the recommendations,” Petitpain said.  New federal dietary guidelines will come out in 2020.

McDonald said she suggests to most people they consume a mix of low- and whole-fat dairy. She emphasized one’s overall diet should be taken into account when deciding which kind of dairy to buy.

A critical time in the dairy industry

Although their views on whole milk might be jumping ahead of dietary guidelines, some dairy farmers say it is a critical time in the industry. In recent years, dairy farmers have weathered an overall decline in milk consumption, and some have had milk processors terminate their contracts.

“We’re at the end,” Womelsdorf farmer Martin Moyer said after a pro-dairy rally at the state capitol last week. “Our input is costing us so much more right now and it’s not compensating what we need to have. Something needs to happen.” 

Related:Most Lebanon County dairy farms survive lost Dean Foods contract

Moyer grew up dairy farming and began his own farm in 1980. He and his wife operate two side businesses to supplement their dairy farm, and none of his four kids have taken on dairy farming full time. He worries for his grandchildren, and whether they'll be able to continue the family's dairy farming tradition.

"I can't see that they have a future in the dairy business if it doesn't straighten out here soon," he said.

Others say new laws are needed to protect dairy farmers

While Troutman started the 97 Milk campaign purely to educate people, it has dovetailed with legislative efforts in Washington to put whole milk back into school lunches and require substitutes such as soy and almond milk be more clearly labelled as non-dairy.

At a rally last week in Harrisburg, well over a hundred farmers, their families, and 4-H club members filled the capitol rotunda steps with about a dozen lawmakers and industry members in support of the dairy-friendly legislation.

Dairy farmers on the steps held up signs and bottles of whole and chocolate milk. Several legislators, including U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson of northwest Pennsylvania, touted the benefits of whole milk, both for nutrition and for the economic future of the dairy industry.  

Dave Smith of the PA Dairymen's Association urged lawmakers to push for two U.S. House resolutions, one called the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which gives students access to whole milk in schools, and another, called the Dairy Pride Act, which calls for enforcing regulations that prohibit labeling milk alternatives as dairy milk.

The legislation also includes the Milk in School Lunches Act introduced by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania, which would allow schools to serve whole and 2 percent milk and require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove milk fat from the cap on saturated fat in school lunches. 

Althea Zanecosky, a Montgomery County nutritionist who spoke in support of the legislative proposals, said she worries kids are not drinking milk because the lower-fat options don't taste as good to them.

"No food is nutritious if its not eaten,"she said. "If we offer nonfat milk  and the kids don’t choose it or they throw it away, what have we accomplished? Nothing."