Updates from New England Dairy Promotion Board


Dairy Educational Program Reaches Thousands of Kids Throughout New England
Thousands of students throughout New England are learning about dairy farming practices through Young Minds Inspired, or YMI, a free educational outreach program for teachers.

New England Dairy & Food Council developed curriculum with YMI that meets educational standards and helps connect students with dairy farmers.   The curriculum is called "From Cow to You: How Milk Gets from Farm to Table" and was mailed to 17,500 fifth through eighth grade teachers. The curriculum is also available online on  the YMI website.

Educator response cards were returned by 24% of the teachers, and 97% rated the program as good or excellent. Nearly 1,700 teachers downloaded the program. One teacher wrote, "the story of milk was a great tool. [It] taught my students a lot about where we get milk and what's involved. Thank you."
U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist Gevvie Stone Joins Team Milk in New England
What fuels U.S. Olympic silver medalist Gevvie Stone? Must be the Milk! Thanks to Milk Life's support of Team USA, New England Dairy & Food Council is partnering with local U.S. Olympian and Team Milk athlete Gevvie Stone to promote the benefits of milk.
 
Gevvie is a two-time U.S. Olympic rower, having raced in the women's single in 2012 (7th) and in 2016 (silver) at the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
 
Gevvie currently lives and trains in Cambridge, MA. She also began a residency in emergency medicine this summer at Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital.
 
Follow @NewEnglandDairy on Facebook to learn more about Gevvie Stone as she shares her journey as part of Team USA for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020!
School Celebrates 50% Increase in Breakfast Participation with Patriots Mascot, Dairy Farmer

Registered Dietitian Jill Read and Dairy Farmer Jimmy Hunt serve hot chocolate milk to students at Pollard Middle School.

Needham, MA - Last year there were half as many Pollard Middle School students eating breakfast at school as there are today. Thanks to a new Grab n' Go cart that was purchased by the school with a Fuel Up to Play 60 grant awarded by New England Dairy & Food Council, breakfast participation has quickly doubled. The Middle School celebrated this achievement by hosting a surprise visit from New England Patriots Mascot Pat Patriot, and Massachusetts dairy farmer Jimmy Hunt of Hunt Farm in Orange, MA on December 20th during the school's four lunch periods.
A Dairy Farmer's Perspective: Why
I Support School Breakfast
Your Checkoff Investment at Work Nationally and Locally: Building Sales
and Trust
National School Breakfast week was celebrated March 5- 9. Dairy farmer Alison Kosakowski Conant shared
on our blog why she supports school breakfast. Learn more about School Breakfast and read about School Success Stories on our website. 
Since the checkoff began in 1984, we have seen average per capita consumption growth per year of 4.2 pounds (milk equivalent).

Learn more about the value of the checkoff with this one page update. 


UMass Global Food Systems Students Visit
a Dairy Farm
Reaching Connecticut Consumers Through TV
Students from the UMass Global Food Systems Program visited Barstow's Longview Farm in Hadley, MA on February 21 with New England Dairy & Food Council to gain a better understanding of how dairy is made locally and feeds people globally.

Survey results showed the tour was helpful to the students and improved their perceptions. Before the tour when asked what their opinion of dairy farming was, 71% of the students had a neutral opinion of dairy farming. After the tour 88% had a positive or very positive opinion of dairy farming.

Registered dietitian Heidi Harkopf regularly appears on local Connecticut television stations to talk about dairy farming, dairy recipes and nutrition. Last year, Heidi had 11 segments sponsored by New England Dairy & Food Council and reached nearly 400,000 viewers on the stations  WFSB, WTNH, WTIC, and News 12. 

Check out Heidi's latest segment on WFSB that aired this week and share her blog post:  Lighten Up Your Spring Menu with Yogurt.


Vermont Breakfast on the Farm Set for June 23 and July 28

Last year's  Breakfast on the Farm events drew over 2,000 combined visitors to two Vermont dairy farms for a farm tour and free pancakes! This year, breakfast will be held on June 23 at the Gervais Family Farm in Enosburg Falls, and on July 28 at Kayhart Brothers Farm in West Addison. 
 
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture organizes the events in partnership with New England Dairy Promotion Board and the agricultural business community to provide a positive and educational experience for the public.

Over 100 volunteers make the event possible. Dairy farmers & industry professionals can  sign up to volunteer.  
Free Promotional Items Available!

We have a selection of FREE dairy promotional items like stickers, cow hats, pens, pencils and more! They're perfect for farm tours and special events.
 
Fill out the order form and email it to: 

PromoItems@NewEnglandDairy.com 
or call 617-734-6750 ext. 0.

In The News
We contact local news outlets with story ideas about the great things dairy farmers are doing. Here are some of the stories we've worked on recently. If you have an idea for a story or would like to write a letter to the editor, email Rene Thibault.

Dairy Farm Stories Dairy Food & Nutrition Stories
In Deep Freeze, How One Farmer Keeps Cows Warm - VPR
 The milkman is back, hitching a ride on the food-delivery bandwagon - The Boston Globe
Smyth's Trinity Dairy Farm Celebrates National Milk Day - Hartford Courant
 Mainsfield student, partner hailed as innovators - The Sun Chronicle
Agriculture is Essential: Beth Kennett - Rutland Herald North Attleboro notebook: New cafe gets a tasty funding grant - The Sun Chronicle
Vermont & NH farmers focus on water quality initiatives - VT Biz Magazine
 Grant Gives Schools a Smoothie Boost - Sentinal & Enterprise
Always a White Christmas: Holiday or not, the cows must be milked - Providence Journal
 Auburn High School Debuts New Hot Chocolate Milk Machines - Charter TV3 Worcester News Tonight
On the night Santa works hard, this family works even harder - Concord Monitor
 East Greenwich Schools take part in National Breakfast Program - The East Greenwich Pendulum
For dairy farms, 'A labor of love' - even on Christmas - MetroWest Daily News
 Pollard Middle Schools celebrates increase in breakfast participation - Needham Times
Holiday time off? Not for some workers in Central Mass. - Worcester Telegram
 Culinary and Nutrition Center for Springfield Unveiled - The Reminder
For Danbury police and doctors (and farmers), working Christmas is 'a team effort' - News-Times
 Dairy Council gives grant to Aiken Elementary School for healthy alternatives - West Hartford News
Preview of the 2018 Vermont Dairy Producers Conference - WCAX Across the Fence
 Dig In! Super Bowl means super sales of food and drink - NECN
Staying Safe in the Extreme Cold - WMUR Enjoying your super bowl snacks, thank a local dairy farmer - ABC22/FOX44
Women Leading the Way at Many Area Farms - Keene Sentinel Stamford schools expand breakfast programs - Stamford Advocate

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