484 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



of trained inspectors who could devote full time to this work. Adequate 

 laws laying down strict rules of supervision, such as farm inspection, 

 compulsory pasteurization, etc., could be made with assurance that they 

 v/ould be enforced. 



As is true among other producers, milk producers are displaying con- 

 siderable activity in organizing to market their milk as a group. While 

 such a movement was at first looked upon with some trepidation in most 

 parts of the state where these organizations were in operation, the result 

 has been entirely satisfactory. Producers have shown their willingness 

 to be fair in setting the price which the milk should bring, while on the 

 other hand distributors find that the rules laid down by these organiza- 

 tions are a protection to them as well as the producers. 



There is still a need for much work to be done in calling the attention 

 of the people of the state to the value of milk as a food. Dieteticians rec- 

 ommend the use of at least one quart of milk a day per person. In iowa 

 the consumption is somewhere about four tenths of a pint per person par 

 day. It is indeed regrettable that the residents of one of the greatest dairy 

 states in the union should be so little cognizant of the value of these 

 products. A steady use of milk will mean a healthier population and a 

 saving on food bills. 



An effort to stimulate consumption of milk was conducted among the 

 school children of Iowa in twenty-nine counties by this department, the 

 Iowa Dairy Council and the Extension Department, of the Iowa State Col- 

 lege, last spring, in a campaign lasting three weeks. During that time 

 387 schools were visited by 19 speakers and the story of milk told to 

 53,812 pupils and 2,709 teachers. Forty evening meetings of the parents 

 of these children were also held in connection with this campaign, which 

 were attended by audiences totaling 4,094 people. It is, of course, ex- 

 tremely difficult to accurately estimate the results of such a campaign but 

 numerous reports from these sections tend to show that the results were 

 surprisingly good. Other campaigns will be carried on in other counties 

 and the scope of the work widened with a view of bringing home the mes- 

 sages to nearly every man, woman and child in the state of Iowa. 



It is entirely fitting that the attention of the milk dealers of the state 

 should be called at this time to the necessity of doing their part in this 

 great work. No matter how much educational work is carried on or how 

 much advertising is done it can not be fully effective as long as there is 

 a feeling among consumers that the product is not absolutely pure. Tell- 

 ing mothers that milk is an ideal food for their children will have little 

 effect as long as these mothers summon up pictures of myriads of dan- 

 gerous bacteria in each drop. To obtain the greatest results from cam- 

 paigns of this kind, a dealer must, as an individual, follow them up with 

 methods designed to bring home to the consumer the fact that his milk 

 is free from contamination. To be in a position to do this he must, of 

 course, take pains to see that his plant is kept in an absolutely sanitary 

 condition and that only high quality milk, preferably pasteurized, is put 

 out by his plant. The same thing applies to all dairy products, it is true, 

 but to none does it apply in the same measure as it does to milk. 



