Milk

The Maryland Farm Bureau Dairy Committee, chaired by Myron Wilhide of Keymar, will conduct a milk marketing and pricing forum at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Walkersville Fire Hall, Frederick County.The purpose of the meeting is to discuss alternative milk-pricing strategies and examine the possibility of creating a state pricing structure similar to those in neighboring states to stimulate the shrinking dairy industry.Featured speakers include John Keeling from the American Farm Bureau Federation; Carol Dubard, a minority consultant to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry; Ed Coughlin from the National Milk Producers Association; and Charles Shaw, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Milk Starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin. Directed by Gus Van Sant. Released by Universal Studios. $29.98. (Blu-ray, $39.95) Rated R. *** 1/2 (3 1/2 STARS) Sean Penn is nothing short of extraordinary in Milk, director Gus Van Sant's biopic of slain gay rights pioneer and San Francisco assemblyman Harvey Milk. He loses himself absolutely in the role, becoming this outgoing, physically slight but emotionally volatile character whose energy is only matched by his outrage over the inequities gay men like him have had to endure for too long.

Lest anyone wonder why the United States faces a $4 trillion debt and Americans don't trust the federal government with their money, look no further than Gambrills, home of the U.S. Naval Academy dairy farm.This farm has cost taxpayers millions of dollars over the years.According to the most recent information, the Naval Academy could save up to $340,000 annually by contracting with a private dairy to provide milk and milk products to midshipmen. The price of milk at private dairies ranges from $1.74 to $1.99 per gallon; the academy's dairy milk costs $2.30 a gallon.

Carroll legislators support a Maryland Milk Commission to help bring higher milk prices for dairy farmers, but the most senior member of the county delegation predicted that legislation establishing one would not pass in the General Assembly this year."

BODY BAGS. Every mother's nightmare. The headlines may be rife with "mass destruction," "nuclear power," "terrorist threat." But it's body bags - those sickening caricatures of placentas - that haunt the dreams of mothers. John Wayne doesn't work here anymore. We've seen Jon Voight come home in howling pieces and Private Ryan saved at horrifying price. We've seen the faces of Afghan mothers whose children were collateral damage. And we know, despite the raging rhetoric, that the flow of oil is not as vital as the flow of mother's milk - that white, warm stream of comfort that's always there, deep in our collective unconscious, imbedded in myth and memory.

I looked at the floor's hexagonal ceramic tiles as I walked into 815 Cathedral St. and thought, "I know this place very well. " For the first four decades of my life, this was the Medical Arts Pharmacy in Mount Vernon, a place of refuge after a session at the dentist or medical specialist. As of Saturday, its doors will be open again as the Milk and Honey Market, described as a "specialty food market and coffee bar. " On a visit Friday, I saw the boxes of heirloom tomatoes arrive at the landmark former drugstore and soda fountain.

With all the milk choices out there, it's tough to know what's best for you.The form of milk with the most calories is whole-fat chocolate, with 230 calories per cup. Whole milk has 150 to 160, depending on the brand. Low-fat has 140, extra-light and most buttermilks have 120. The low-cal winner is skim milk, with 90 calories.Whole milk is about 3.5 percent fat. This equals nine grams per cup, five grams saturated, which translates into two teaspoons of fat. The cholesterol count is 33 milligrams per cup for whole milk, 22 for low-fat and only four for nonfat.

WASHINGTON -- Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, is questioning the safety of a genetically engineered growth hormone that is used to increase milk production in dairy cows and is urging the Food and Drug Administration to immediately halt sales of milk in which traces of the drug are found.Spokesmen for the manufacturers say the experimental hormone, bovine somatotropin, is being tested in more than 100 herds around the country. In 1985, the FDA declared that the hormone was safe, and milk from the experimental herds has been sold in commercial markets ever since.

The Food and Drug Administration says it will test raw milk weekly around the nation to determine if it contains certain antibiotics.The agency said yesterday 250 locations across the country will be chosen for testing, and raw milk samples will be collected each week from five of these sites, selected randomly.The samples will be tested for the presence of eight sulfa drugs and three tetracycline drugs. The FDA said that when residues are found, the states will be told and the agency will help track down the source.

Does it make a difference if I use whole or skim milk in a recipe?I have been working lately with many reduced-fat recipes and have found that regular and skim milk are usually interchangeable. If you're not used to the flavor of skim milk, however, you may notice the dish doesn't taste quite as rich.What is a caper?A caper is a flower bud from the caper bush native to Asia and the Mediterranean. It is sun-dried and packed in salt or a vinegar brine. Capers can vary in size from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch in diameter.