Stanley Foster, age 7, of Youngstown, Ohio, for his question:

What do they use to make margarine?

Many families use margarine instead of butter because real butter is more expensive. They know that margarine looks like butter and tastes like butter. But they wonder if butter may be better because it is made from rich dairy cream. Margariveis made mostly from rich oils that come from vegetables. Water, salt and special milk are added and good margarine has an extra helping of vitamin A. Though the texture is not quite the same, this good margarine is as nourishing as real butter and it gives you the same amount of peppy energy.

In America, most of our rich margarine oils are squeezed from corn, soybeans and cottonseed. Sometimes oils from coconuts, peanuts or sunflower seeds are used. Water, salt and cultured milk are mixed and churned with the purified oils to make them creamy. This is pasty white, so as a rule they add some yellow coloring. They also add some buttery flavoring.