EAST EARL, Pa.  — When Nelson Troutman speaks, people pay attention. He’s fun to listen to  — entertaining, direct, unafraid and down-to-earth. Above all, he’s honest. Ground-level honest. He tells it like it is, folk hero style.

Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of an article that appeared in the October 3 edition of Farmshine, which reported on Nelson’s well-received presentation at a fund-raising dinner for U.S. House Rep. ‘GT’ Thompson at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord in eastern Lancaster County on Monday, Sept. 22.

“I’ll introduce myself,” he began, “I’m Nelson Troutman, lifelong dairyman.

“Life-long until I met Bernie Morrissey,” he added with a touch of humor.

 Nelson has since turned the 135-year old family dairy operation over to his son Justin and daughter-in-law Reneé while he spends more time painting plastic-wrapped round bales with the words: ‘Drink Whole Milk it’s 97% Fat Free.’ or something similar.

As he recalled the motivating moment from nearly seven years ago, Nelson said he had told  processors that he was going to start advertising milk as 97% fat-free. And they replied: “Don’t do that.”

“I said: ‘Why not?’”

“They said: ‘That will upset everything.’”

Stubborn Pennsylvania Dutchman that he is, Nelson went ahead and did it anyway, thereby providing the spark for a seismic shift in milk promotion. He did it because he was disappointed and frustrated with the way his mandatory check-off dollars were being misused and going to waste. He felt betrayed to the point of taking matters in his own hands.

“We really need to educate the consumer,” Nelson declared. When he painted his first bale in December of 2018 with the words “Drink Whole Milk, It’s 97% Fat Free,” he thought of it as advertising. Later that same day, a neighbor and former dairy farmer caused him to realize it’s not advertising because the neighbor had taken a look at the message on Nelson’s bale and commented: “I didn’t know that.”

“From then on, I thought of it as consumer education. And it’s needed, even among dairy folks themselves, he asserted. “We need to educate the consumer about fat levels of milk. Many people still think that whole milk is 100% fat.

Nelson also suggests that more needs to be done to spell out the facts about lactose intolerance. Some people may overcome it by drinking whole milk instead of skim, 1% or 2%.

Not all milk is the same, Nelson declared. Yet that was exactly the message that dairy princesses were instructed to say during the years that the words “whole milk” weren’t allowed to leave their lips, per instructions from program directors, who got their orders from DMI. And DMI was bossed by USDA.

“Let’s ask the kids if all milk is the same,” Nelson suggested, adding: “They throw the non-fat and low-fat milk in the trash. And there’s no nutrition in milk that ends up in the garbage. None!”

To further illustrate missed opportunities to educate consumers, Nelson brought along an empty plastic gallon jug. He says there’s plenty of space available on the flat surfaces to add more information such as recipes, serving suggestions and telling the story of dairy.

“If this jug is sitting on the kitchen counter or table at eye level, don’t you think this would be a very cost-effective way to share information? Put information on all four sides! This is a very easy way to educate families at meal time.

If processors object to the cost of the additional informative labels, Nelson reminds that Pennsylvania’s mandatory checkoff program has $15 available to buy them. “And 360-some millions of dollars are available in the U.S. to buy labels, he pointed out.

“I read labels,” the Berks County dairy farmer declared. “I read them at Dairy Queen too, and I don’t go there anymore,” he revealed, encouraging the audience to read labels and find out what’s really in some products that claim to be “dairy”.

While Nelson had much to be critical about, he had nothing but praise for Allied Milk Producers. “They have many billboards, radio and TV sports; they support sports events and are very involved with our dairy princess programs.

“Whole Milk, Whole Nutrition, Naturally” is Allied’s message. “They are very, very, very good people,” he said emphatically.

After a brief pause, he most sternly announced: “DMI (Dairy Management, Inc.) is promoting ultra-pasteurized, extended shelf life (ESL) milk with our check-off dollars. Thirty years ago we drank ESL milk and it was horrible. And you know what? It still is!

“I am not one to throw food away, but, let me tell you, I would throw that away.

 According to Nelson, the ESL trend is a bad one in more ways than one. It will reduce traffic to grocery stores because consumers won’t be going back to the store for fresh milk. ESL milk can allegedly be stored for months without refrigeration; once opened and in the refrigerator, it’s good for another six weeks. Nelson shakes his head at these developments.

Continuing, Nelson said: “I made the mistake one time of saying ‘If the whole milk in schools bill passes’ … and this guy immediately straightened me out. “Not if this whole milk bill passes, but when!”

It’s a choice of whole milk in schools; not something that’s mandatory. The kids will be the promoters to their families and it will be fun to watch,” he concluded.

The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act has become U.S. Rep. GT Thompson’s signature political endeavor. Meanwhile, Bernie Morrissey quickly rose to be the lawmaker’s top fundraiser because GT is a man he could trust. No dollars would go to waste with GT’s campaigns.

And all along, while GT worked in Washington and Bernie shook the bushes for money, Nelson was never in their shadows. He has a story to tell and he minces no words in doing so.