Digging deeper into flavored milk

In our November issue, you’ll find a Farm Flash about a recent study regarding flavored milk in a suburban Connecticut school. The study that was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association proved a point we weren’t surprised by: Kids drink more milk when it’s flavored. The researchers in the study offered advice to schools saying that we must consider the nutritional trade-off for 60 calories of high fructose corn syrup.

Now there’s more research out about how we can improve the look of milk in schools. We heard about this one from the National Dairy Council. A study published in the Journal of Child Nutrition and Management tested new milk enhancement strategies like plastic, resealable containers; flavored milk; ice-cold milk; and low-fat or fat-free options. The outcome revealed that consumption increased by an astonishing 35 percent when these improvements were made. The authors pointed out that they believe offering flavored milk was a key factor in this study’s outcome.

Below, you will find a link to the National Dairy Council’s publication “Flavored Milk in Perspective.” Take a look, and share it with your local schools. If you’re interested in more information about enhancing the look of milk in your children’s schools, visit the New Look of School Milk website by the National Dairy Council.

Flavored Milk in Perspective.

California Dairy Board’s “Milkdonkulous Giveaway”

The California Milk Processor Board has come out with some one-of-a-kind websites lately. From the exceedingly interactive “Got Milk?” website to the fancy Spanish-speaking “Toma Leche” site, the sunshine state’s Milk Board surely is wowing site visitors. And they’ve done it again — this time in rock opera style. Battle for Milkquarious is the name of their new competition and website. The website includes a lengthy 1970’s/futuristic-style rock opera video that features White Gold, the supposed hero of Milkquarious. Milkquarious is the island completely powered by milk, of course. Just to forewarn you if you watch it, the movie was created with today’s teens in mind. It’s completely satirical.

The site invites California Public High School students to submit rewrites to scenes in the movie. Visitors of the website can watch submitted scene rewrites and vote for a winner. The winning student will win $20,000 for his or her school’s arts programs, a second-place winner will receive $10,000 for his or her school, and eight other schools will receive $2,500.

Keep the crowds coming

Many of us have been to the local county or state fair and know that the cattle barn aisles are always filled with people of all ages. And, if you’re trying to get a cow ready on show day, these people might seem like the biggest nuisance in the world. But think twice before getting angry with or rude to these people. The public walking through the dairy barns to see cows and displays is a great way to promote our industry. Many of these visitors don’t come from a farm background and don’t have the opportunity to see or touch cattle on a day-to-day basis, and if you’re rude to them, even once, it’s likely that they won’t ever come back to the barns again and will leave with a negative opinion of the dairy industry.

For instance, this past week I was trying to get my cow ready for our county futurity when an older man came up with a group of people and stood around the cow I was trying to prepare. Instead of being rude and telling them to get out of the way, I told them they should stand back and explained what I was getting her ready for. The group took interest in the concept of a futurity and how to get a cow ready and began asking questions. Again, I took the time to answer them and told them when and where the futurity was taking place. Later, I noticed the same group watch the entire 29-head class, which lasted nearly two hours.

Showing cattle is such a small aspect of a very large industry, but it’s important for us to advertise our families, farms, and our great industry every chance we get. Those people walking through the barns once or twice a year are the ones buying milk, butter, ice cream, and other dairy products off the shelves on a daily basis.

Dairy direction for social media

Here’s some direction for all of the online dairy advocates out there. It’s called the myDairy social media program and it’s an online starting point developed by producer check-off investment. To kick off the website, DMI hosted two webinars recently to encourage over 350 dairy advocates to become online spokespeople through the use of social media. It’s part of an initiative to have farmers “tell their story” firsthand to the consumer. This isn’t their first dip into social media. The dairy industry already has an 820-fan-strong Facebook page, an impressive YouTube channel, and they’re on Flickr, too. The myDairy program has a toolkit and includes tips on utilizing websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, links to positive on-line dairy articles, ideas for blogging, and tips on joining online conversations. The myDairy program encourages users learn who their audience is, how to critically evaluate messages, and choose which conversations to join in order to effectively educate those unfamiliar with dairy. The password protected toolkit that houses this information is limited to only those dedicated to promoting a positive image of dairy on-line. To find out more about the program or to obtain a user name and password, contact myDairy@rosedmi.com.