AgWired

My family is a dairy kind of family. We go through at least three gallons of milk per week, cheese slices, string cheese, shredded cheese, sour cream, yogurt cups, Greek yogurt, “squeeze yogurt”, “drink yogurt” – you name it! I don’t keep ice cream in the house because I work from home and can tell you exactly who would consume the majority of it. But we love dairy!

There’s one dairy product I keep in the fridge for the kids. I’ve tried it numerous different ways, but just can’t acquire a taste for it because I know it’s spoiled milk! You guessed it – cottage cheese.

Grandpa has told stories in the past about pork processing and how they used everything but the squeal. It’s about the same for a calf if you think about it.

Rennin: a coagulating enzyme occurring in the gastric juice of the calf, forming the active principle of rennet and able to curdle milk. (from dictionary.com)

In grandpa’s terms, it the extract from the membrane of the calf’s stomach. They would milk cows at home (probably on that 3-legged stool!), use the cream separator, then add the rennin to curdle it if it didn’t do it naturally. Grandma said her mother used to set the milk on the back of the range where it would eventually clabber, then move it up on the stove to cook it. It was then put in a cheese cloth bag to drain.

Viola – cottage cheese. I’m all for utilizing every part of an animal to produce food and add value to the carcass for producers. But doctor it up with raisins and sugar, or a spoon full of pepper, in my book, it’s still spoiled milk.

Until we walk again …

Agriculture and agriculture-related industries are a $775 billion contributor to the U.S. gross domestic product. But even with it being such a major factor in Americans’ lives, how much does the average person really know about this industry? To test your ag knowledge, public relations firm Swanson Russell has created a mobile device-based trivia challenge at www.AgTrivia.com.

“We work with agribusiness clients every day,” said Steve Johnson, vice president/account director at Swanson Russell in Omaha. “This year, during National Ag Week, we wanted to create a quiz that celebrates and educates people about agriculture.”

“Knowledge is power. The average American is now more than three generations removed from the farm. The more we can help to tell the story of agriculture and get facts out to the general public, the more people will understand how food and fiber products are produced and appreciate the role agriculture plays in our daily lives,” said Johnson.