6
CapitalPress.com
June 2, 2017
Juli Labhart
cleans a machine
used to churn
gelato at the
Bontà Natural
Artisan Gelato
creamery in east
Bend, Ore.
Dairy Council of California connects public, ag
For the Capital Press
Ninety-eight years ago
California’s dairy families
and milk processors saw the
need to showcase the nutri-
tional value of milk and dairy
foods.
One vehicle they developed
to do that is the Mobile Dairy
Classroom.
Combined with training
programs and online tools,
they can now reach millions in
California and throughout the
nation.
The Mobile Dairy Class-
room started in the 1930s
when Clarence Michaels of
Edgemar Farms customized a
trailer to bring a cow and calf
on school visits in the Los An-
geles area.
The assemblies based on
the Mobile Dairy Classroom
are California’s original Farm
to School program, said Efrain
Valenzuela, the Dairy Council’s
Mobile Dairy Classroom man-
ager.
“Today six instructors with
agricultural and education
backgrounds across the state
bring the custom-built units
to elementary schools and
Ag Days during the school
Dairy Council of California
Students pet a calf during a visit from the Dairy Council of Cali-
fornia’s Mobile Dairy Classroom. The program reaches 450,000
children and adults each year.
year,” Valenzuela said. “This
valuable program reaches
450,000 children and adults
each year.”
Since 1919, the Dairy
Council has developed other
programs to partner with ed-
ucators, health professionals
and communities to elevate the
health of children and parents
through the pursuit of healthy,
balanced eating habits, he said.
That includes drinking milk
and eating dairy foods, he said.
The Dairy Council is a
marketing order with over-
sight from the California De-
partment of Food and Agri-
culture.
All of California’s dairy
families and milk processing
companies contribute to fund
the outreach efforts.
“We offer classroom nu-
360.354.3094
trition education lessons for
grades K-12 that are free to
California teachers,” Valenzue-
la said. “We also offer nutrition
education booklets to health
professionals to assist adults
and parents in making healthy
eating choices and raising chil-
dren to be healthy eaters.”
In addition, the Dairy Coun-
cil is part of the Smarter Lunch-
rooms Movement of California,
Local School Wellness Policy
Collaboratives and other com-
munity outreach programs, he
said.
Currently, the council
is reaching out to teachers,
school food service profes-
sionals, healthcare workers
and others to raise awareness
and boost participation in the
free summer meals programs
funded by USDA.
Only about 15 percent of
students who rely on free and
reduced-price meals at school
take advantage of summer
meals, which offer free break-
fast, lunch and snacks to all
kids 18 and under — no pa-
perwork or documentation re-
quired — when school is out
of session.
“Every breakfast and lunch
follows healthy meal stan-
dards,” he said.
405 Birch Bay-Lynden Rd.,
Lynden, WA 98264
info@whatcommfg.com
D17-2/#8
By JULIA HOLLISTER
Marina Riker/\For
the Capital Press
Couple develops taste
for making gelato
By MARINA RIKER
For the Capital Press
Jeff and Juli Labhart knew
they wanted to start their own
business. But they had no idea
what they wanted to do.
The two were living in
Bend, Ore., when they decid-
ed to take a break from their
day jobs and backpack around
the world for a year. While
exploring new countries and
cultures, the two were always
on the lookout for new places
to fill their appetite for sweets
— especially for gelato.
Juli Labhart, who is aller-
gic to gluten and corn, found
it easier to satisfy her cravings
abroad, where the frozen treat
was more likely to be made
without such ingredients.
“At the time, there were
only a couple main ice cream
companies that I could eat
(in the United States),” said
Labhart. “I was like, why are
we behind on this?”
When the husband-and-
wife team returned to the U.S.
a year later, they enrolled in
classes taught by gelato-mak-
ing masters in hopes of being
able to craft the dessert from
local ingredients back in Bend.
Nearly a decade has passed
since then, and business is
booming at Bontà Natural Ar-
tisan Gelato. What started as
a gig selling pints at the local
farmers’ market has turned
into a 20-employee company
equipped with its own cream-
ery. The Labharts run a scoop
shop in downtown Bend, and
offer their pints for sale in
stores ranging from Albertsons
to Whole Foods.
“We were new to the food
industry, so we had to do
a lot of research,” said Jeff
Labhardt. “It took a while to
figure all of it out.”
Today, the company uses
240 gallons of milk a week
to produce up to 3 gallons of
gelato every 10 minutes at the
creamery in east Bend, where
Juli Labhart experiments with
new recipes and monitors each
batch. Whether she’s mixing
dulce de leche and sea salt or
Oregon hazelnut, she follows a
strict recipe for each batch.
“I love food, and I love
numbers,” said Labhart, who
studied math in college. “I
have a really dorky spread-
sheet where I calculate the fat
and sugar.”
Unlike ice cream, gelato is
about 6 percent fat and made
mostly from milk, explained
Labhart. In general, ice cream
is made with more cream and
churned differently so there’s
more air, which can mute fla-
vors in comparison to gelato,
she explained.
“When you taste something
without fat, the flavors are
more rich,” Labhart said.
The Labharts use all-natu-
ral sweeteners, which means
Juli Labhart can eat the ge-
lato she makes — even with
her food allergies. The couple
seeks out local ingredients —
such as hazelnuts and straw-
berries — whenever possible,
and often crafts new flavors
depending on what’s in sea-
son.
Eberhard’s Dairy Products,
which is based in Redmond,
supplies all of the company’s
milk.