For the last six years, milk drinkers standing at dairy cases in the St. Joseph and Kansas City areas sent Leroy Shatto a message: Give us old-fashioned milk without the fat.

Skim milk in glass bottles has become one of Shatto Milk Co.'s top sellers since it launched its farm-fresh brand in 2003. Mr. Shatto, a dairy farmer in Osborn, Mo., saw the trend and upped skim milk orders to grocery stores. The health-conscious city folk had spoken.

But a problem quickly developed: what to do with all the leftover cream (the fatty part of milk).

At first, farm workers used it to make butter. But that didn't stem the cream tide. Then, a light bulb moment: ice cream.

At more than $3.50 a pint, Shatto Ice Cream enters its first summer in grocery store freezers alongside premium players Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's. Shatto currently only sells vanilla and chocolate flavors.

"I know I can't compete with the big boys," Mr. Shatto said. "But I can remember my grandmother used to make homemade ice cream. That was the good stuff and that is what I want my stuff to be."

Local ice cream aficionados say the appeal of the frozen treat today has as much to do with nostalgia as it being a favorite summertime snack. To Maxine Kastner, 85, it evokes a taste of youth.

While attending Benton High School, she dated her future husband over hamburgers and ice cream at a South Side parlor. Later, she made her children homemade ice cream fortified with fruits from her garden.

Today, she sees her frozen dessert treat remade for today beyond past benchmarks of flavor and quality.

At Grand Slam Ice Cream Co., her favorite neighborhood parlor that she visits weekly, one of the top sellers is the Majestic Milky Way.

"I like Oreos and brownies with my ice cream," said Ms. Kastner, who celebrated her birthday Thursday.

For others, the drippy sugary treats being dispensed from a truck will always be an image associated with ice cream.

For the last two summers, Mel Johnson drove St. Joseph streets at the wheel of an ice cream truck. Children responded to the telltale music, running out the door, money in hand, to line up at his truck.

"I was the most popular guy in St. Joseph when I was driving that truck," said the former Kansas City Ice Cream Co. driver. "Some parents would tell their kids you could get the same stuff in the freezer (at home), but kids love to get it from the ice cream man."

Mr. Johnson has retired his truck due to a disability, leaving one ice cream truck company, Frosty Treats, in St. Joseph.

Dairy groups say ice cream sales will continue to be hurt by the recession this summer. A survey of consumers in April found more than half of consumers say price, not nutrition, is the most important factor when grocery shopping in this economic climate.

"People are buying less dairy with the idea they can get nutrition elsewhere," said Stephanie Cundith, a registered dietitian with the Midwest Dairy Council, which released the survey. Ms. Cundith said ice cream is a versatile dessert containing calcium and some protein "that can be paired with other nutrient rich food for a wonderful summertime treat."

Ahmad Safi can be reached

at ahmadsafi@npgco.com.