So it was in the Dairy Innovation editorial office, although the ‘snowed under’ type of chaos on the computer was to be preferred to the ‘snowed under’ type of chaos that was going on outside with the awful weather that has brought the UK to a grinding halt in recent days.
But back to the emails: I was curious to read that there’s a battle going on in the US between milk and cider, and those fighting the battle are schoolchildren.
A press report on the Lancaster Farming website said that New Hampshire legislators were going back to work to discuss and deal with such fiery topics as budget deficit, gun control – and whether New Hampshire needs a state drink. And, if it does, should that drink be apple cider or milk?
As the website observes, the law makers “can expect to be lobbied hard on the subject by school kids rather than the usual smooth-talking suits who prowl the halls of the State House and the Legislative Office Building”.
Apparently, during the autumn, a group of Grade 3 schoolchildren from one local school convinced a local politician that they did need a state drink – and it should be apple cider. Said politician agreed to file a bill to make it official, but before that happened, another group of schoolchildren got wind of the plan and set out to wreck that idea and put milk in its place.
Leading the milk race is Jeremy LaChance, who sent letters to all the state lawmakers in his area urging them to get behind milk. He wrote to all New Hampshire’s commercial dairy producers seeking their backing, too. One dairy farmer was so impressed, he sent Jeremy $25 to help pay for the postage costs.
Reading that these children are nine years old or so, I was rather intrigued as to why children of such a tender age should be campaigning for a powerful alcoholic dink such as cider. Good old Wikipedia put me right: in the US and Canada, non-alcoholic versions are known as apple cider.
So we wait to see the outcome, but I can’t help but commend Jeremy on his dairy campaign. Wouldn’t it be great if more adults were to follow his example?
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