Delaware State Beverage

Milk

Delaware State Beverage

Adopted on June 3, 1983.

Milk was made the official Delkaware state beverage on June 3, 1983.

Milk has been called a nearly perfect food - a source of protein, calcium, and several other important nutrients.

Did you know that: Milk has been proclaimed the official state beverage or drink in each of the following states:

State Symbol: Milk

Arkansas  |  Delaware |  Louisiana  |  Minnesota
Mississippi  |  Nebraska |  New York  |  North Carolina
North Dakota  |  Oregon  |  Oklahoma  |  Pennsylvania
South Carolina  |  South Dakota  |  Tennessee
Vermont  |  Virginia  |  Wisconsin

Delaware State Beverage: Milk

Delaware State Beverage

Delaware's dairy industry is a vital segment of the agricultural economies of both the state and the nation. In Delaware, milk sales rank fifth in agricultural receipts and top the income of all livestock products except poultry. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Delaware has a long history of innovative research and rigorous teaching programs in dairy science. The dairy science research, teaching, and extension programs of the University of Delaware work cooperatively to integrate the findings from basic and applied research into cost-effective management practices for the dairy industry in the Northeast region, nationally, and abroad.

Dairy Facts

  • The main breed of dairy cows is Holstein.
  • Cows are milked at least twice a day with sanitary milking machines.
  • The calcium content of fluid milk is: 8 oz. whole milk 291 mg. 8 oz. 2% milk 297 mg. 8 oz. skim milk 302 mg.
  • Consumers continue to get more value for money spent on milk and milk products, while receiving a significant amount of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
  • Consumers spend $69.7 billion per year on dairy products, which is about 10.4 percent of all their food expenditures.

Where milk comes from and how it's made.
Ever wonder where delicious milk comes from? It all starts with healthy, well-fed cows that live on farms all around America the beautiful.

  • All cows are females (males are called bulls).
  • A cow can't give milk until she's given birth to a calf.
  • Cows provide 90% of the world's milk supply.
  • A cow's udder can hold 25-50 pounds of milk at a time - no wonder she's so eager to be milked - and a cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.

Can You Say, "I'm Full?"

Cows are BIG eaters. Did you know that cows have four stomachs and eat 90 pounds of food a day? That's probably more than you weigh! A cow that chows on only grass can make 50 glasses of milk a day. But one that eats grass, corn and hay can make 100 glasses of milk a day!

Milk has a long and rich history. For example, did you know?

  1. Sanskrit records mentioned milk 6,000 years ago.
  2. The Bible describes the Promised Land as Aa land flowing with milk and honey."
  3. The Greek physician Hippocrates recommended milk as a medicine some 2,300 years ago.
  4. Christopher Columbus brought cattle to the New World on his second voyage.
  5. It has been said that one reason for the high death rate among those who traveled to the New World on the Mayflower was that they had no fresh milk to drink.
  6. Cows were brought from Europe to the Jamestown colony in 1611 and to the Plymouth colony in 1624.
  7. Cheese was an important item in the diet of the Vikings, who from about the 8th to the 10th century sailed the seas on long voyages.
  8. Cheese was an article of commerce in ancient Rome. Monks developed the art of cheese making in Europe in the Middle Ages.

Delaware House Bill No 148

CHAPTER 41
FORMERLY
HOUSE BILL NO. 148

AS AMENDED BY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 3, TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE BY DESIGNATING A STATE BEVERAGE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend Chapter 3, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by adding the following section: "§312. Milk shall be the official beverage of the state of Delaware."

Section 2. This act shall become effective July 1,1983.

Approved June 3,1983.

Delaware Law

The law designating milk as the official Delaware state beverage is found in the Delaware Code Title 29, General Provisions, Chapter 3, Section 312

TITLE 29
State Government
General Provisions
CHAPTER 3. STATE SEAL, SONG AND SYMBOLS

§ 312 State beverage.

Milk shall be the official beverage of the State


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