July 2010

DAIRY CHECKOFF UPDATE

 

A periodic report for dairy media demonstrating how Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI) and affiliated state and regional promotion organizations work to increase demand for and sales of U.S.-produced dairy products and ingredients through the programs of the American Dairy Association®, National Dairy Council® and U.S. Dairy Export Council®. For more information about these and other dairy checkoff programs, please contact Jennifer Wing at (847) 627-3225 or jennifer.wing@rosedmi.com.

                                                                                                                                                                                          

General Mills Teams with Dairy Checkoff To Enhance Breakfast Programs

 

General Mills Foodservice has committed $100,000 to help schools build their breakfast programs through National Dairy Council’s Child Nutrition and Fitness Initiative Breakfast Grant program. Schools participating in Fuel Up to Play 60 that are looking to expand their breakfast programs can apply to receive up to $3,000 in funding.

 

National Dairy Council (NDC) is the nutrition research and education arm of the national dairy checkoff program. NDC’s Child Nutrition and Fitness Initiative (CNFI) encourages fitness and good nutrition, including dairy consumption, among our nation’s school children.

 

“America’s dairy producers applaud the commitment from General Mills to address a very important issue such as school breakfast,” said Paul Rovey, Arizona dairy producer and chair of Dairy Management Inc.™, which manages the national dairy checkoff. “These efforts help create lifelong dairy consumers and healthier future generations.”

 

About 10 million children eat breakfast on any given day in U.S. schools – nearly a third of the 30 million students who eat school lunch regularly. School foodservice administrators understand that a breakfast program provides significant benefits regarding healthy diets and increased learning capabilities. A review of data from the Bogalusa Heart Study suggests that kids who skip breakfast rarely make up for missed nutrients later in the day. Furthermore, a study in Philadelphia and Baltimore public schools found that children who regularly participated in breakfast programs scored higher on math tests, were less likely to be tardy or absent, and had fewer reported discipline problems when compared with children who skipped breakfast.

“The Child Nutrition and Fitness Initiative Breakfast Grant program can help provide resources to schools serving breakfast and grant funds to help them offer breakfast at school via nontraditional methods,” said Kim Main, K-12 marketing manager, General Mills Foodservice.

 

For more information about the grant program and to download an application, visit www.fueluptoplay60.com. For more information about the dairy checkoff, visit www.dairycheckoff.com.

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