Eric Grabman '76

Eric Grabman '76, PA milk sanitarian

There is an ever-growing public concern as to safety of the food we eat. Hardly a week goes by without a media story about some sort of food recall, bacterial food bore illnesses, or some other food safety related issue. So much of our food is produced and processed in places we have no ideas as to how or where it is done. Raising this level of concern leaves the consumer questioning just how safe is our food.

My name is Eric Grabman ’76, a Geneva College graduate with a degree in biology. As a PA milk sanitarian, I am one of those people who stands on the frontline of food safety. Milk is regarded as one of the safest and most wholesome of our foods. Prior to the 1940s this was not the case. Milk related illnesses were common, and in some cases, fatalities occurred. The advent of milk pasteurization along with the institution of strong governmental regulatory programs have led to a dramatic decrease in the number of reported cases to such a level that today they are near non-existent.

The USDA and the State of Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture regulate both the production of milk at the farm level and the processing of milk at the various types of milk plants. In accordance with these regulations, I am licensed as a Dairy Farm Inspector by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Currently, there are 65 family-owned dairy farms, all located in an eight-county area of eastern PA that ship milk to Marburger Dairy; each of which is required to be inspected once every six months. This can be a real challenge in that I have seen milking machines using technologies from the 1940s to the current technology of robotics (no human contact).

Dairy farming today is a tough way to make a living. It is more a lifestyle than an occupation. Dairy farmer work is pretty much a 24/7 affair. There are no vacations, no holidays, although they go to church on Sunday, the cows still need fed, watered, and milked twice a day.

Imagine that you are a farmer and your farm has been in your family for four or five generations. You received it from your father who received it from his. A sort of a trust and now you, by no real fault of your own, are about to lose the whole inheritance to the bank. Today, these farm families are under a huge amount of stress. A few months ago, the largest dairy in the U.S. sent suicide hotline contact information along with the monthly milk checks to their farmers. This is how critical the current state of the industry is. This however, does open the door for a service based Christian ministry.

Most importantly, the thing as a farm inspector that I can do is to serve as a much-needed sounding board. They need to talk. In an age when over 98% of American population has no connection to the source of their food, there is a real lack of understanding. Their story is important, and it needs to be told.

Although I cannot help all farmers, I have made a real effort to try and help my producers make the monthly quality bonuses. This means taking the extra time to take extra farm samples and advise ways to meet the quality standards.

Another Christian based approach that I found very useful is found in the Book of Philemon. Paul tells the story of a slave that ran away from his owner and at the same time stole money. In time, the slave met Paul and was converted. Paul then put the slave to work in the mission field. The owner then converted and found that Paul had his slave and petitioned Paul to return his man and his money.

Paul responded that he had the authority to order the slave owner to do the things he needed to do, but out of love and respect, he requested the owner to leave the slave be. request not order seems to go against the nature of being a compliance officer. People under stress do not need to be ordered; nobody likes to be ordered. But a simple please do me a favor goes a long way. If the farm has a problem, I have a problem and what can I do to fix it has become my approach. Years ago, when I took over the milk supply to Marburger Dairy, it was considered challenged. Today, it is considered to be a solid supply and I credit this change to a lot of good people who happen to be dairy farmers and a simple template of leadership set out by Paul.