RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Do you ever wonder where your food and drinks come from? In Rutherford County, a lot of milk comes from Middle Tennessee State University’s campus.
“Out on the farm that’s where everything starts,” said James Flatt, Farm Director at MTSU. “The students wake up at 5 every morning to milk the cows.”
School of Agriculture students in the Animal Science Concentration aren’t just learning in the classroom, but physically working on the farm.
“This is a very unique model because students are out every day doing the work right alongside the managers,” Flatt said.
Over the past year, Flatt said roughly one million pounds of milk has been in production. The milk is then then distributed to processors throughout the community.
About 25% of it goes to the MTSU Creamery on campus.
“What this does is label and date our bottles as they run down the line then they will be filled the same day,” said Steve Dixson, Creamery Manager on MTSU’s campus.
Students who work at the campus creamery then fill up the bottles with both whole and chocolate milk.
“We deliver to several places around town and campus. Of course, any place that has milk, we deliver. We deliver it out to Manchester, that’s probably the farthest at Project Donuts,” said Leeann Martin, Senior at MTSU.
The milk is distributed through the dining halls on campus, the farmers market, and the community.
“Our students have a direct impact on feeding, not just, fellow students here at MTSU, but they have a direct impact feeding the community in the southeast as well,” Flatt said.
Flatt said the milk is regularly tested as they adhere to a strict set of standards set by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and the FDA.
“We are constantly making sure that nutrition is just on point, making sure that we are paying attention to the cow’s health. Because happy cows make more milk, and happy cows love us even more,” Flatt said.
Back out on the farm, the cows are being milked seven days a week, twice a day. Flatt said the program has been in production for the last 20 years and has grown over the last few years.
“We are hoping to grow this program even more, it would be nice to have a larger milk plant in the future so we can produce more milk and touch more customers’ lives in our community,” Flatt said.
