Dairy in the Classroom can be deliciously educational

In Upstate New York’s Herkimer County, where country craft meets classroom curiosity, there is a mission to bring the farm straight into the schoolroom. Wendy Richardson is a 4-H program educator who is using the Dairy in the Classroom (DitC) program to stir curiosity, serve science and spread the word about where our food really comes from.

After two decades working in the food industry, Wendy’s journey took a turn when she married into a multi-generational dairy farming family in Starkville, NY. She saw firsthand the hard work and heart behind every glass of milk. She realized how little many children knew about the journey food takes before it hits their plates. Four years ago, she got the opportunity to do something about it.

Now, through her work with CCE Herkimer, Wendy leads the DitC program across every school district in the county and beyond. “In 2024, we reached over 3,000 youth at 150 events and schools,” she said.

“Once the students are three generations off of the dairy farm, they don’t really know where their food comes from,” she explained. “I want them to understand that milk doesn’t come from the grocery store – it comes from the farm.”

Many people are familiar with the national Agriculture in the Classroom program, which focuses on a different aspect of the industry every year. DitC is much more specific.

From pre-K through fifth grade, her students learn through hands-on, minds-on activities that bring agriculture to life. Through a strong partnership with Insight Dairy of Little Falls, she takes students away from their desks and onto the dairy. They see cows being milked, hear the hum of machinery, feel the hay under their boots and begin to understand the intricate dance that connects farm to fridge.

But Wendy’s magic is not limited to eld trips. In the classroom, she blends science and snack time in unforgettable ways. One of her most engaging and effective lessons revolves around a simple kitchen experiment: making butter. Using only cream and a jar, the children have a chance to churn. They watch as the contents inside transform before their eyes. This, she‘ll explain, is a physical change. The fat molecules clump together, separating from the liquid buttermilk. The cream has not become a new substance. It has only changed form. The students can feel the shift in texture, see the separation happen and taste the final product.

This butter-making activity is not just fun – it’s foundational. It helps kids grasp core scientific concepts like states of matter, molecular motion and reversible changes. More importantly, it connects those concepts back to real life on the farm. Students begin to understand that butter does not magically appear wrapped in waxed paper at the store. It starts with a cow, a farmer and with a process they have now experienced firsthand.

To explore the difference between physical and chemical changes, she flips the focus by making pancakes. This time, she mixes flour, eggs, milk and leavening agents, then pours the batter onto a hotplate. As it sizzles and browns, students observe how the once-liquid mix becomes a solid, fluffy breakfast treat. This, she divulges, is a chemical change. The ingredients interact in new ways. Heat causes proteins to denature, sugars to caramelize and carbon dioxide to be released, making the pancakes rise. The result is a new substance. It is a change that cannot be undone. You cannot un-cook a pancake.

Wendy Richardson is a 4-H program educator using the Dairy in the Classroom programming across Herkimer County, NY. Photo courtesy of Wendy Richardson

This comparison between butter and pancakes is a window into the world of food production, food science and food appreciation. Students come away with an understanding of how chemistry shows up in everyday life and how food is far more than something you unwrap or reheat. It is a product of processes and patience.

If there is one message Wendy hopes her students remember, it’s this: fresh is best. She goes out of her way to prove it, especially every autumn when pumpkins start popping up on porches. Wendy buys up bunches of bargain pumpkins. Then, in school kitchens and cafeterias, she and her students roll up their sleeves and turn those pumpkins into homemade pies. They slice, scoop, roast and puree, turning farm fresh produce into golden, gooey and aromatic treats.

Through lessons like these, Wendy drives home three core truths she wants every student to take with them: Know where your food comes from. Fresh is best. Support your local farmers and buy local.

These principles are woven into every part of her program. They are part of the hands-on activities, the field trips, the cooking demos, the science lessons and the stories she shares.

She’s not just shaking jars and flipping pancakes. She is flipping perspectives. She is showing students that milk does not come from cartons, butter is not born in a factory and pies do not just appear in the freezer aisle. She is building a bridge between classroom and countryside, between farm fields and school cafeterias.

DitC isn’t only offered in NYS, though. New England Dairy features its own version of this learning opportunity (learn more at newenglanddairy.com/dairy-in-the-classroom). In Pennsylvania, similar lessons may be found at discoverdairy.com.

Through her dedication and down-to-earth teaching, Wendy is making sure kids not only know where their food comes from but also why that knowledge matters.

And that is something worth savoring.