CALF_News_February_March_2021

31 CALF News • February | March 2021 • www.calfnews.net longer distances. The first food to require attention was milk. Pennington’s small staff focused on all phases of milk production. She established basic standards for the dairy industry that were eventually adopted throughout the U.S. There was a particular problem with unsanitary conditions among ice cream vendors in Philadelphia, causing children to become sick. Pennington had excellent “people skills,” persuading the vendors to look at microscopic slides of their contaminated ice cream. She was able to convince them to clean their pots and utensils by boiling them, eventually clean- ing up the adulterated ice cream problem city-wide. Change Comes Hard The conundrum of safe food storage, or a lack thereof, was exacerbated by reluc- tance of the general public to accept refrig- eration. Spoiled foods caused hundreds of deaths and thousands to become sick. The public complained of the taste and quality of preserved foods. This road was slow- going among a suspicious population. By 1906, the U.S. Government passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. There were, however, no scientific standards set as to determine what was “pure,” so the law was unenforceable. Enter Dr. Harvey Wiley, Penning- ton family friend and chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Chemistry. He had already enlisted Pen- nington’s help in researching refrigeration of perishable foods. Now, he found her to be the perfect person to head up the new U.S. Food Research Laboratory. Pennington herself doubted a woman would ever be awarded a position of chief of the Food Research Lab. Wiley, however, convinced her to take the Civil Service exam required for the position. Wiley submitted her test under the name M.E. Pennington, functionally disguising his friend’s gender. Pennington marked the highest score of all applicants and was offered the job. The offer was later revoked when the Civil Service discovered they had hired a woman. Wiley stepped in on behalf of Pennington and success- fully convinced the government agency to accept her application, despite her gender. Getting Down to Business Eggs were becoming a bad problem, particularly those broken and sold as liquid to bakers and confectioners. Unsanitary conditions all along the pro- duction line led to high bacterial counts in product. Pennington again went to the source of the eggs and followed them all the way to the store. She improved sanitary conditions all along the supply route and developed the modern egg crate to pro- tect them from contamination-inducing cracks. Once again, her abilities of per- sonal persuasion won over hard-core men all along the production line. World War I created a need to trans- port safe food to troops over great distances. This ushered in the use of refrigerated railroad cars. Pennington herself did not invent the cars, but the units were so large, complex and unwieldly that they presented a multitude of problems. Food became either dried-out or moldy due to faulty air flow, fluctua- tion in humidity and failed insulation. Of 40,000 refrigerated train cars used by the U.S. Government, Pennington found 3,000 that were functional. Her efforts in improving refrigerated rail cars earned her a Notable Service Medal in 1919 for her contribution to the war effort. Later Work Pennington moved to New York in 1919 to research insulation for the American Balsa Company. She opened a consulting business for food storage and shipping companies and developed improvements for commercial and home refrigeration systems. She never married and was a lifelong member of the Quaker religion. She died of a heart attack in 1952 and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002.  Gatherings During a pandemic, it is not so easy to find people gathered. These cows really don’t care, they are neither masked nor social distancing. A good drink of water on a frosty morning is all they need. We should all be so carefree.  Drinking Cows The 2021 NC leader team, left to right, are Vice President Steve Hanson of Elsie; President Bill Rhea of Arlington; Past President Ken Herz of Lawrence; and 2020’s Past President Mike Drinnin of Clarks.  Nebraska Cattlemen Leadership