Dairy Checkoff Update

from the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council, Inc. All information listed on this page is copied directly from the communications sent by mail to dairy farmers by ADADC, Inc. The Herkimer County Dairy Promotion Committee is happy to bring you some of the highlights of these publications, but encourages you to also visit the official site of the ADADC, at www.adadc.com. For questions pertaining to the information, email them through their site or contact Audrey Donahoe, District #9 Director, at 315-894-8235.

*for more information on the Dairy Checkoff, go to www.adadc.com*

2010 ANNUAL REPORT: INNOVATE. EDUCATE. COMMUNICATE.

BUILDING LIFE-LONG DAIRY CONSUMERS:

Improving the school milk experience for the nation's 55 million school children is the top priority for dairy checkoff. Not only does it affect milk sales now, but because children are establishing their life-long eating habits now, making school milk a positive experience for students can change milk sales for many years to come.

The "Breakfast in the Classroom" Program: Has the ability to boost participation of students eating school meals from an average of 20% to 90%. This program benefits dairy farmers as an increase in breakfast participation mean an increase in milk sales.


Examples of the program's success:

BUFFALO CITY SCHOOLS BOOST MILK SALES BY 50% - With the help of ADADC staff, New York's second largest school district (Buffalo City Schools) implemented the Breakfast in the Classroom program in the fall. With 56 schools and over 40,000 students, this program not only provides students with a healthy breakfast, but also sells more dairy. School Food Service Director for Buffalo City Schools, Bridget O'Brien, stated that they saw an increase in milk sales by around 50% within the first few weeks of rolling out the program.

30,000 STUDENTS EATING BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM IN JERSEY CITY SCHOOLS - The Jersey City School District, with 39 schools, adopted the Breakfast in the Classroom program this fall. Breakfast sales have increased and school officials are confident that their students are receiving a healthy meal thanks to the benefits of dairy products like milk and yogurt.

PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOLS INCREASE MILK SALES THROUGH NEW PROGRAM - Realizing the benefits of serving breakfast directly to students in the classroom instead of the cafeteria, Towanda PA, Troy PA, and Canton PA school districts have all made the switch as well.

To provide even more credibility to the Breakfast in the Classroom program, former Buffalo Bill's running back Thurman Thomas and Richard E. Kreipe, MD, from the University of Rochester have both publically supported the program. Other advocates of the program now include the New York State Dietetic Association, the New Jersey and New York American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Empire State Medical Association.


FUEL UP WITH CHOCOLATE MILK:

High School Athletes Name Chocolate Milk their Official Beverage


Through a partnership between ADADC and the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA), chocolate milk became the official drink of student athletes in 2010. Keeping with the top priority of the dairy checkoff, ADADC has made chocolate milk a life-long part of each student athlete's work-out routine through this partnership.

USING THE POWER OF THE NFL TO BOOST DAIRY SALES & INCREASE STUDENT WELLNESS

Jets Tackle Obesity, Promote Healthy Eating in Newark - ADADC and the Jets' hosted a Fuel Up to Play 60 event for Newark students at the team's training facility in Florham Park, NJ. Students learned about the importance of eating a complete healthy diet, including getting their 3 servings of dairy each day, from Jets' Nutrition Consultant Tom Bilella. They even got to work out with running back Shonn Greene.

Giants and ADADC Give a Harlem School Cafeteria a Makeover - To help encourage students to "fuel up" with healthy foods like dairy and "play 60" daily, ADADC and the Giants teamed up to give the cafeteria at Jackie Robinson Middle School a makeover.

Former NFL Kicker Visits Scranton Pennsylvania School - Helping to motivate kids to lead healthy lives by eating dairy and being active, former NFL kicker for the Giants, Sean Landeta, visited Neil Armstrong Elementary school in Scranton.

Jets Build Fitness Stations in Newark to Promote Healthy Eating and Living - Newark, NJ schools were among the first in the nation to adopt dairy farmers' Fuel Up to Play 60 program. As part of the program, ADADC teamed up with the NFL's Jets and the Essex County Parks Department to fund six new fitness stations in one of the city's parks. At the unveiling, Jets' cornerback Dwight Lowery led a group of 100 Newark middle-school students in an inaugural workout.

ADADC Makes Nutrition & Fitness Fun at Buffalo Bills' Annual Hometown Huddle - Over 100 students from throughout western NY learned about the important role dairy should play in everyone's diet during the Buffalo Bill's hometown huddle. Throughout the afternoon, students partnered with their favorite Bills' players to make yogurt parfaits, and also got moving with "Jump with Jill", a registered dietitian who takes a rock 'n roll approach to nutrition.

FARMER INVOLVEMENT

Dairy farmers throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York took a proactive role in reaching out to consumers of all ages and educational backgrounds this year. By doing this, they put a face to the industry, corrected misinformation, and educated people regarding dairy's environmental, food safety, and animal well-being practices.

New York City SchoolFood Staff Experience "A Day in the Life" of a Dairy Farmer - Serving over 860,000 meals a day, NYC SchoolFood Staff receives many questions from concerned parents about food safety and nutrition. To help answer some of them, several staff members visited Hardie Farms in Lansing, NY. Visiting an active dairy farm in person was a learning experience for the visitors, as they learned how the owners make caring for the cows and the environment their top priorities.

Rochester, NY School Staff Learns about Dairy Farm's Environmental Practices - Avon, NY dairy farmer Greg Coyne hosted several Monroe County School professionals on his farm. During the visit they were able to ask questions and see firsthand what it is like to be a dairy farmer in 2010.

Buffalo Bills and Local Dairy Farmer Celebrate Fuel Up to Play 60 - Buffalo Bills' wide receiver Lee Evans and running back Fred Jackson teamed up with Chautauqua County dairy farmer Norm Gustafson at a Fuel Up to Play 60 celebration held at the team's field house. During the students visit to the practice facility, Gustafson spoke about how milk gets from his farm to local school cafeterias.

INCREASING DAIRY SALES NOW

Reinventing the Dairy Aisle Boosts Dairy Sales

On an average trip to the grocery store, most shoppers move quickly through the dairy aisle picking up only planned purchases - potentially resulting in fewer dairy sales. To combat this, the Dairy Aisle Renovation program (DAR) creates "speed bumps" throughout the section to inform shoppers of the many new products available in the dairy section and how to use them in favorite recipes.

- ADADC and ShopRite completed total Dairy Aisle Reinventions in 3 stores and mini-makeovers in 7 stores.

- ShopRite's Monroe, NY store saw a 13.6% increase in dairy sales after DAR.

- ShopRite's Flemington, NJ store saw a 15.5% increase in the Grab and Go Section after DAR.

Dairy is Local 365 Days a Year

To help make the connection between fresh, wholesome dairy foods and the farmers who produce them, ADADC teamed up with Wegmans Supermarkets to launch a campaign inviting consumers to "Celebrate America's Dairy Farmers." The campaign included store visits from local princesses, food sampling, and a coloring contest. In addition, Wegmans featured pictures of dairy farmers along with their farm stories in each store's dairy case and in their Menu Magazine - a monthly publication.

Dairy Princesses Spread "Dairy is Local" Message - Dairy royalty visited every Wegmans store (56 stores) in the marketing area twice throughout the summer and fall. Princesses spoke with local consumers about the importance of dairy products as well as the dairy industry, reminding them that milk and dairy products are produced locally.

INCREASING DAIRY SALES NATIONALLY

In order to increase dairy sales, your national dairy checkoff program works with many powerful partners to develop new and innovative products to keep up with the latest food trends.

- Yoplait introduced a new line of frozen fruit and yogurt smoothies in the summer of 2010, which combine breakthrough yogurt chip technology with 8 oz. of milk. The newest flavor, Pomegranate-Blueberry are expected to have sales exceeding 120 million pounds of milk.

- Dairy checkoff has helped to create new and innovative pizza recipes that add more cheese, in an effort to counteract the steady decline of the amount of cheese used on pizzas over the past several years. The new recipes have increased cheese sales by 48% in the top four pizza chains.

- Domino's has created a multi-cheese pizza that uses more than 80% more cheese.

- McDonald's has launched three new Angus snack wraps each containing a full slice of cheese. They are projected to use 7 million pounds of cheese annually, in addition to the 6 million pounds of cheese for the full Angus burger launched earlier in the year.

- Dairy drinks in McDonald's stores (Frappes are nearly 50% milk) are expected to use over 100 million pounds of milk.

- Yogurt smoothies now sold in McDonald's stores have sold 320 million pounds of milk.