State Fair Butter Sculpture Unveiled

The 2014 New York State Fair Butter Sculpture

The campaign to get more milk into food banks and onto the tables of lower-income families is the theme of this year's Butter Sculpture at the New York State Fair.

Sculptors Jim Victor and Marie Pelton have put together a piece that shows a dairy famer dropping off fresh gallons of milk at his local food bank. Dairy farmers, milk processors and Feeding America have joined forces to raise awareness and improve access to milk for families in need through the Great American Milk Drive.

And fairgoers will be able to help out too.

"We're encouraging fairgoers to make their own donations, either by visiting the website www.milklife.com/give or by texting MILK to 80088, to give $5 to Feeding America," said Rick Naczi, chief executive officer for the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council in Syracuse. "These donations will be converted into coupons for milk so that local food pantries can best manage their supply."

The state's food banks are able to provide only about one gallon of milk each year to the families they serve, according to statistics from the American Dairy Association. Feeding America, dairy farmers and milk processors -- through the Great American Milk Drive -- hope to bring more milk into food banks.