Artists have a knack for being able to create a story from any medium. Jim Victor has carved himself a niche in butter – butter sculptures to be exact! On Thursday, the 17th annual butter sculpture was unveiled as part of the kick off to the 92nd Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, Pa.
The butter sculpture is sponsored annually by Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program on behalf of the Commonwealth’s dairy farmers. The golden sculpture introduces “Discover Dairy” and “MILK: It Does a Student Body Good!,” two educational series developed by Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program in conjunction with Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to help students understand the many ways dairy farmers positively contribute to the community. As the largest butter sculpture in Pennsylvania Farm Show history, this year’s sculpture was crafted from 1,000 pounds of butter donated by the Land O’Lakes plant in Carlisle.
“With just 8,400 dairy farms remaining in the Commonwealth, it’s important to educate Pennsylvanians about milk’s journey from cow to container,” said Tom Croner, a Somerset County dairy farmer and chairman of the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program. “Consumers are increasingly interested in where their food comes from. By using the butter sculpture to promote our dairy education kits, educators will be well-equipped to teach the story of our state’s official beverage.”
At the conclusion of the Pennsylvania Farm Show, the butter sculpture will be bussed to State College where it will be made into biodiesel at the Pennsylvania State University and State College High School. At Penn State, the butter sculpture will power the tractors used to harvest crops that feed the cows that make milk, which is churned into butter. The rest of the sculpture will be processed by State College High School Career and Technical Center Ag Science Program and Science Department Integrated Biodiesel Project to fuel the school’s grounds equipment. Both schools currently recycle used cooking oil from their campuses.