Lancaster County is all about cows. Normally the smell of a dairy farm is enough to keep one from visiting, but when you have kids, it’s an opportunity for them to learn all about where the stuff we eat comes from, and getting to feed and pet calves is definitely a bonus. It turns out that sometimes there’s a disconnect with kids as to what they eat and where it comes from. When my daughter Chloe was little, she was convinced there were two types of chicken. “Buck buck” chicken, which were the live chickens you’d see running around on a farm, and the food chicken that she ate for meals. How could you eat something as cute as a “buck buck” chicken?

This summer, while visiting family in Lancaster County, we decided to elaborate on the food and animal discussion. Rather than taking her to a chicken slaughter house, we decided to bring her to a dairy where she could see first hand how and where milk and ice cream comes from. You never appreciate ice cream more than when you’ve visited the source! In addition to the cows, there were cornfields to play in, fluffy kittens to cuddle and some friendly and adorable bulldogs for the kids to share their ice cream with too. Ironically, the kittens and dogs were her favorite part of the trip to the dairy, so it looks like we may still have some work to do!