NEW YORK MILK COMMITTEE 21 



PRODUCERS PROBLEMS: 



It has been no secret that the struggle of the past has been 

 to extract a living from the production of milk, a necessity. 

 The problem of the future has the added burden of making that 

 production safe and valuable with immediate promise of re- 

 turns. 



This problem has been met by various methods, foremost 

 among which has been that of raising the requirements for 

 clean milk. 



A physician in 1892 suggested requirements for the pro- 

 duction and care of milk till it reached the consumer. These 

 requirements formulated in a contract with a producer, have 

 been adopted by over 60 Medical Milk Commissions for the 

 production for Certified Milk in this country and abroad. 

 The reasonableness of this contract led an assistant of Ma- 

 jor Alford, the Chief of the Dairy Division, at Washington 

 to exclaim: "This makes it possible to secure a better milk 

 supply." The producers have come to value the advice of 

 the physicians and look to them for suggestions in working 

 out the problem of clean milk. But when the physicians and 

 Boards of Health undertook to carry out these high ideals 

 there was often times only disappointment for the producer; 

 for the public discounted the value of carefulness in the pro- 

 duction, with corresponding increased cost of the product; 

 and the problem remained the same. 



Then the method of education was tried and the producer 

 eagerly responded. Farmers sent their boys to agricultural 

 schools while agricultural papers increased in circulation. 

 The farmer is being educated, but the public remains igno- 

 rantly unreasonable. 



Another method is being tried out, that of co-operation, 

 will it succeed? 



The New York Milk Committee seems to be an example of 

 this idea. Composed of physicians, dietitians, consumers, 

 dealers and producers, it has the chance to investigate and 

 counsel with sympathetic understanding because of mutual 

 interest. Their purpose is one, their only glory or profit is 



a To better the milk supply so that a clean milk (less 

 expensive than Certified) can be had for the masses at a 

 reasonable cost. 



