Midwest Dairy is building trust in dairy among Gen Z students by partnering with colleges across the region. Two recent collaborations with the University of South Dakota and the University of Minnesota are embedding dairy’s sustainability story directly into college classrooms and research.
University of South Dakota
Midwest Dairy supports the Dedicated Acquisition of Information Regarding Youth (DAIRY) project at the University of South Dakota’s Department of Sustainability and Environment. This research initiative focuses on environmental beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of Gen Z, particularly undergraduate students enrolled in Environmental Studies and Sciences programs.
A major milestone came when lead researcher Dr. Joe Kantenbacher and four graduate students (two funded by Midwest Dairy) successfully published an article in the Journal of Sustainability. Their study analyzed the presence of food systems curriculum across U.S. Sustainability and Environmental Science programs and revealed a significant gap: while 44% of programs offer food systems courses as electives, only 9% require them.
The findings suggest many graduates may lack essential knowledge of food systems—limiting their ability to address U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. This presents an important opportunity to incorporate dairy’s sustainability story into course content, especially since both faculty and students show interest in the topic. The research team previously shared these insights at Midwest Dairy’s Fall Division Board Meeting.
University of Minnesota
At the University of Minnesota, Dr. Natalie Hunt of the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering has become a key partner in promoting dairy’s role in sustainable food systems. After meeting Lisa McCann, RDN, and Midwest Dairy’s Sustainability Nutrition Manager, at an AI climate meeting in spring 2024, Hunt attended several Midwest Dairy events, including a two-day thought leader gathering in Chicago and a lunch-and-learn session for AI climate researchers.
These interactions inspired Hunt to add a dairy-focused sustainability module into her Sustainability of Food Systems course, which enrolled 250 students from a wide range of majors this past spring. The module featured three Midwest Dairy sustainability videos from farms in Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. Students were tasked with identifying a significant social, environmental, or economic challenge faced by each farm and analyzing how the farm addressed that challenge to improve sustainability.
This integration is a strong step forward in reaching Gen Z with real-world examples of dairy’s environmental stewardship. Hunt is exploring ways to expand dairy’s presence in other courses and research projects, including her work on the Iowa Corn Belt project.
Together, these initiatives highlight the importance of collaborating with academic leaders to share dairy’s sustainability story in meaningful, evidence-based ways. By supporting published research and hands-on classroom learning, Midwest Dairy is helping to shape the perspectives of future environmental professionals and ensuring dairy remains part of the broader sustainability conversation.