Midwest Dairy is working hard to grow trust with youth inside and outside the classroom by sharing dairy’s sustainable nutrition story. As we reach the halfway mark through this school year, take a look at how these programs are engaging youth to grow trust in the industry and result in dairy sales.
Adopt a Cow
This school year, Midwest Dairy has seven local dairy farmer hosts connecting with 74,000 students from the Midwest area in Discover Dairy’s Adopt a Cow Program. The program gives youth in grades K-12 a direct relationship with a dairy farmer to learn more about where their nutritious dairy foods come from. The program includes twice a month Sunday Funday emails to those enrolled in the program with additional materials to enhance learning and bring dairy to life in and out of classrooms. The, “12 Days of Dairy Activities” were a big hit in the month of December and many of them can be used year-round.
The highlight of this program is the live calf chats with the dairy farmer hosts coming this spring. You can learn more about these, and how to handle a live audience, in the Your Dairy Checkoff Podcast titled, Have You Ever Had 800,000+ Visitors On Your Farm? hosted by Iowa dairy farmer Dan Venteicher.
Fuel Up to Play 60
Fuel Up to Play 60 recently launched a new feature on their website for downloadable materials making it even easier for educators to find and use sustainable nutrition resources for their classrooms. Midwest Dairy’s growth poster with Chicago Bears’ David Montgomery is featured in the Healthy Eating section along with Midwest Dairy’s #Dairy Does Too posters in the Sustainability section.
The third unit of the Learning Plan for Educators was released February 1, 2022, and is titled: Healthy Food, Healthy Mind, Healthy Body. This new unit is part of our focus to offer mental health plus good nutrition and environmental sustainability to address mental fitness, healthy eating and physical activity. This unit will join two other learning units currently available for download: Fuel Your Game Day — Every Day Is Game Day and Farmers Fuel The World.
