Syracuse, NY, Nov 09, 2010 — A cool glass of milk is an American icon of health. But a New York Times article over the weekend casts milk's dairy cousin, cheese, as a poster child of artery-clogging, obesity-inducing fast food.

The article details the efforts of a USDA-sponsored marketing agency called Dairy Management to get people to eat more cheese. Among its projects is a partnership with Domino's to put 40% more cheese on its pizzas. That effort included a $12 million advertising campaign, paid for by Dairy Marketing.
Meanwhile, the USDA itself says cheese is the largest source of cholesterol-causing saturated fat in the American diet.

The Times article set off a flurry of blog posts and opinion pieces with outraged titles like "Strap on Your Feedbags" and "Cheese Industrial Complex." Some commentators called for the new Congress to axe the program as a symbol of excessive government spending.

Reaction in the dairy industry has been muted. But Beth Meyer of the American Dairy Association emphasizes a fact that appears halfway through the article. Dairy farmers - not taxpayers - foot most of the $140 million a year bill to fund Dairy Management as a part of their monthly milk check.

"It's 15 cents per hundredweight," Meyer says. "Ten cents of that money stays local for organizations such as ours, based in Syracuse, NY, so of that goes nationally. So it's really a program of dairy farmers supporting promotion of their own product, which obviously makes a lot of sense."

Still, Dairy Management did get more than $5 million through the USDA last year to promote sales overseas.

Dairy Management is credited with helping to slow the decline of milk drinking with its popular "Got Milk?" campaign.

Meyer says she doesn't think the criticism of the program will hurt North Country farmers. She says there's a place for cheese in moderate eating. "Cheeses are an excellent source of calcium," Meyer says. "They're a nutrient dense food, and we talk about fitting foods into the daily diet, so we think this continues to be a strong program for the dairy farmers in northern New York and certainly throughout our marketing area."

Dairy Management's efforts raise thorny questions about the balance between supporting farms and promoting good nutrition. Local agriculture groups across the North Country encourage farmers to sell so-called "value added" products like cheeses, maple candies, or jellies and jams. Many of them are high in calories.

David Sommerstein put the issue to Bernadette Logozar, local food specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Sep 01, 2010 — When school resumes next week, some North Country students will return to the classroom and the garden. Since last spring, students, faculty and parents have tilled, planted and tended to vegetable gardens from Cape Vincent to Keene Valley. The result is edible schoolyards. In many schools, gardens are being integrated into the educational curriculum to teach children not only about plants and nature, but other subjects as well. School leaders say gardens can teach children about economics, poetry, math and science studies. In Potsdam, the result has been more than just a pretty garden patch in the school's courtyard. Fresh, school-grown veggies are being served at lunch. Todd Moe has more.  Go to full article

Washington, DC, Aug 11, 2010 — Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the obesity epidemic in America continues to get worse. In nine states - all in the South or Midwest - a third of the population is obese. Not a single state had a rate of adult obesity below 15 percent, the goal set by federal government's Healthy People program.

The Northeast is slimmer than other parts of the country. But, still, a quarter of all New Yorkers are obese.

Jeffrey Levi of the Trust for America's Health calls obesity "one of the biggest public health challenges the country has ever faced."

Some people say the government is partly to blame for America's obesity problem - because of the federal dietary guidelines. Julie Grant reports on efforts to improve how the government offers nutritional advice.  Go to full article

Sep 02, 2004 — Did you know the green ends of the cabbage leaf has twenty times the vitamin E of the whiter stem end, or that tomato varieties vary 3-fold in the the amount of vitamin C they contain? Martha Foley talks with Dr. Curt about how to maximize the nutritional value of the vegetables you eat.  Go to full article

Oct 22, 2003 — The Jefferson County town of Calcium celebrated the dietary benefits of milk, cheese, and yogurt yesterday as a part of the national "Got Milk?" dairy campaign. About 150 people in the Watertown area spent 4 months on a high dairy, low calorie diet and lost an average of 14 pounds each. The diet was based on research by Dr. James Hill of the University of Colorado School of Nutrition, who found eating more calcium causes the body to burn more fat. David Sommerstein talked with participant Tony Bova.  Go to full article

Jan 29, 2003 — Cornell Cooperative Extension officials in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence county say the time is ripe to start serving more North Country-grown produce in local schools. Cooperative Extension started its first farm-to-school pilot programs last summer in Canton, Massena and at SUNY-Potsdam. The aim this year is to get more farmers and schools involved. Request program information. Todd Moe reports.  Go to full article

Oct 31, 2002 — Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager talk about how we classify foods. Hear Curt assert the nonexistence of vegetables.  Go to full article

Apr 18, 2002 — While red meat has taken a beating in recent years from the health industry, a number of studies now indicate that it's also possible for even red meat to have some health benefits. Scientists and farmers have found ways to put certain important fatty acids in chicken and pig diets. Now chicken, pork, and even eggs can have lower than average cholesterol. An organic farmer from Northern Illinois is participating in a study that's trying to get beef to catch up to its healthier counterparts. If he succeeds, farmers across the Great Lakes might start varying their grain crops. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium's Simone Orendain reports.  Go to full article

Mar 14, 2002 — Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley give the rundown on meat, what it is, where it comes from, why we cook it and eat it.  Go to full article

Mar 07, 2002 — What is milk and why do we like it? According to Dr. Curt Stager it's a suspension of lipid globules in water, and is really kind of yucky when you think about it.  Go to full article