text:
Tag Archives: whole milk for healthy kids
The long and the short of it
Posted on July 6, 2021 by Agmoos
In all, 11 people testified during the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee's public hearing about the federal prohibition of whole milk in schools. I testified (right) in one of three panels, which also included (l-r) Nelson Troutman, Bernie Morrissey and Jackie Behr.
Below is the shorter, oral version of my full written testimony for the June 16, 2021 public hearing.
Good morning Honorable Chairman Scavello and Senate Committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify on whole milk choice in schools. My name is Sherry Bunting. As an ag journalist 40 years and former Eastern Lancaster County School Board member 8 years, not to mention as a mother and a nana, I see this from many sides.
From the dairy side, fluid milk sales had their steepest decline over the past decade as seen in the chart (above) with my written statement. There was a decline slowly before that, but you can see the drop off after 2010.
That was the year Congress passed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.
Two years prior, the national dairy checkoff, which farmers must pay into, signed a memorandum of understanding with USDA to advance the department's Dietary Guidelines using the checkoff's Fuel Up to Play 60 program in schools — promoting only fat-free and low-fat dairy.
(Note: This was confirmed in a May 2021 dairy checkoff press conference, stating that "DMI has been focusing on the youth audience ever since making its commitment to USDA on school nutrition in 2008," and that Gen Z is the generation DMI has been working on since the launch of Fuel Up to Play 60, which was followed by the formation of GENYOUth and the signing of the memorandum of understanding, MOU, with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in that 2008-10 time period.)
By 2011, USDA had their data showing schools that voluntarily gave up whole and 2% milk were meeting the Department's Dietary Guidelines more consistently — on paper — as far as fat content across the 'served' meals and the 'a la carte' offerings, combined.
With this data, USDA targeted whole and 2% milk, specifically, for mandatory removal from school grounds during school hours by 2012.
In fact, the 'competing foods' regulatory language at the time stated that even if you wanted to have a vending machine (with whole milk) as a fundraiser for FFA, it could only be open for two weeks for the fundraiser, maybe three. The rest of the time it had to be closed between the hours of midnight before the start of the school day and 30 minutes after the end of the school day.
This is how we are treating whole milk.
That looked good on paper, but the reality? Since 2008, the rate of overweight and diabetes has climbed fastest among teens and children after a decade of stipulations that you can only have whole milk until you're 2 years old — and in the poorest demographics, who rely the most on school lunch and breakfast. This fact was acknowledged during a U.S. Senate Ag hearing on Childhood Nutrition in 2019, where senators even referenced a letter from 750 retired Generals sounding the alarm that young adults are too overweight to serve.
This is a federal and state issue, and I might add, a national security issue. Our state has an interest in the outcomes.
While Pennsylvania school doors are closed to whole milk — a fresh product most likely to be sourced from Pennsylvania farms — their doors are wide open to processed drinks profiting large global beverage and foodservice companies.
What the kids buy after throwing away the skimmed milk does not come close, as you've heard, to offering the minerals, vitamins and 8 grams of complete protein in a cup of whole milk. What's on paper is not being realized by growing bodies, brains and immune systems. Not to mention the milkfat satiates and helps with absorption of some of those nutrients. A wise foodservice director who saw this coming told me in the late 1990s, while I was serving on the School Board, he said: "when too much fat is removed from a child's diet, sugar craving and intake increase." Some of the latest data show he was right.
School milk sales are 6 to 8% of total U.S. fluid milk sales. However, this represents, as you've heard, the loss of a whole generation of milk drinkers in one decade.
The Northeast Council of Farmer Cooperatives looked at school milk sales from 2013 through 2016 and reported that 288 million fewer half pints of milk were sold in schools during that period. This does not include half-pints that students were served but then discarded.
This situation impacts Pennsylvania's milk market, farm-level milk price, and future viability — a factor in Pennsylvania losing 1,974 farms; 75,000 cows and 1.8 billion in production since 2009 – rippling through other businesses, ag infrastructure, revenue and jobs. We are, actually now, 8th in milk production in the U.S. If you go back 15 years, we were 4th. As of last year, we were passed by Minnesota.
The fat free / low fat push devalues milkfat as a component of the price paid to farms, making it a cheaper ingredient for other products. Our kids can have whole milk. There is no shortage of milk fat because if there was, producers would be paid a fairer price that reflected its value.
While the flaws in the Dietary Guidelines process would take a whole hearing in itself, Pennsylvania consumers see the benefits of milk fat in study after study and are choosing whole milk for their families. Redner's Warehouse Markets, for example, reported to me their whole milk sales volumes are up 14.5%. Nationally, whole milk sales surpassed all other categories in 2019 for the first time in decades. So parents are choosing whole milk, and we saw that during Covid, and even before Covid.
Today, children receive one or two meals at school, and there's a bill actually being considered by Congress to make three meals and a snack universal at school. Then what?
Many parents don't even know that whole milk choice is prohibited. Even the New York State Senate Agriculture Committee, during a listening session on various issues, had a request brought up to legalize whole milk in schools. Three of the senators expressed their shock. One asked the person testifying — who is both a dairy farmer and an attorney — how could this be true? They thought she was joking.
(In fact, skepticism prompted Politifact to investigate. They confirmed, indeed, Lorraine Lewandrowski's statement — "Make it legal for a New York state student to have a glass of fresh whole milk, a beautiful food from a beautiful land" — received the completely true rating on Politifact's Truth-O-Meter because, yes, there is a federal prohibition of whole milk in schools.)
There's just not enough people understanding that this is happening. Many people think the kids do have the choice, but they don't.
My petition, that I started in late 2019, has nearly 25,000 signatures online. The links are with my written statement — and 5000 were mailed to me by snail-mail — so over 30,000 total. Nearly half of those are from Pennsylvania, and New York would be second as far as signatures, but we have signatures from every state in the nation.
When I looked through to vet it, to balance it and make sure we didn't have people from other countries in these numbers, I started to see who was signing, from all walks of life — from farmers, to parents, to teachers, doctors, and on and on. Even state lawmakers, I recognized some names on there. The whole milk choice petition has opened eyes.
Thank you for this hearing, and please help bring the choice of whole milk back to our schools. Our children and dairy farmers are counting on us.
If I could just have a couple more seconds here, this is personal for me, as a grandmother. One of my grandchildren is lactose intolerant, or I should say, that's how it would seem, but she has no trouble drinking whole milk at home. Her doctor says she may be lactose intolerant because she keeps coming home from school and having stomach problems at the end of the day. She now is not drinking the milk at school, just drinking whole milk at home. She can't drink the skimmed milk, and there's really some science behind that.
A professor in North Carolina (Richard C. Theuer, Ph.D.) mentioned this role of milk fat actually slowing the rate of carbohydrate absorption — which is the lactose. (As a member of the National Society for Nutrition and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University, Theuer addressed this in at least two public comments on the Dietary Guidelines Federal Register docket, once in 2018 and then again in 2019.)
I'll end my comment here, sorry I went a little over.
— At the conclusion of my time, Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee Chairman Mario Scavello said this was a good place for me to end my testimony because "what we've heard here today is children are not drinking the skim milk and the low-fat milk. We've got to get this corrected, the more I listen to this," he said. Then, turning to Nelson Troutman on the panel in regard to the 97 Milk education effort, Scavello added: "By the way, I did see that 97 percent bale. Thank you for explaining it because I thought, what is this about? I could see the bales while driving on I-80."
Posted in Dairy, dairy checkoff, Diet, Nutrition, Uncategorized	| Tagged Childhood Nutrition Reauthorization, dairy checkoff, Dietary Guidelines, Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, school lunch, school milk, school nutrition, USDA Food Nutrition and Consumer Services, whole milk for healthy kids, whole milk in schools	| Leave a reply
PA Ag Secretary Redding sidesteps school milk question, cites other priorities
Pa. Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding sidestepped questions about school milk during State Senate budget hearings. He listed other priorities of advocacy in the "federal conversation" and cited the need for new processing for Pennsylvania's dairy future. Screenshot photo of hearing on zoom
By Sherry Bunting, Farmshine, April 23, 2021
HARRISBURG, Pa. – During the Pennsylvania Senate budget hearings in April, in a question-and-answer exchange with Senator David Argall, representing Berks and Schuylkill counties, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding talked about advocating for trade agreements, pricing policies, dairy investment and nutrition in "the federal conversation."
However, on the question of advocating to legalize whole milk choice in schools? Asked twice. Not answered.
In fact, the Secretary's entire agriculture budget testimony included just one small paragraph about dairy — something Sen. Argall picked up on and questioned. He asked Redding what portion of overall Pennsylvania agriculture is represented by dairy, to which the Secretary replied "about 37%."
When pushed on what the department is doing, Redding said: "I can tell you dairy is about 37% of my conversations — even though the testimony doesn't reflect that."
"We have made real progress in dairy and have been part of that conversation, but there is still more to do for dairy to remain viable and remain at 37%," said Redding, citing the work of the Dairy Futures Commission, but few details.
Asked to look five to 10 years down the road, the Secretary said the dairy industry has had some "really incredible years in the last five and some incredibly bad years in the last five. It is always going to be sustainable," he said, "but the question is: Are we going to have those good years to make up for the bad years?"
(It has been seven years since a truly good year was experienced by dairy producers.)
The Secretary pinned the hopes of the future for dairy in Pennsylvania on "getting new processing."
Redding stated: "We can compete on the farm. We can compete as a state. But we have to compete at the marketplace too. I remain encouraged by what we're doing, but we have to keep pressing to make sure we get the right state and federal policies."
However, there is one federal policy at the core of fluid milk marketing that the Secretary evaded.
Sen. Argall pointed out the 2010 federal policy that removed whole milk from schools.
"Do you see a solution to that issue, and is that really a big part of the overall problem?" the Senator asked.
"I think it is certainly a contributor, and I hear it all the time about whole milk. But what I try to encourage the dairy industry is to look at where total dairy consumption is — the 1%, the 2%, the whole milk — and can you get more cheese, get more yogurt in, can you get more dairy products into that school diet," Redding replied.
"I think that's probably what we have to keep our eye on," he continued. "It's going to take all of that product mix for us to turn this trend around of just dairy consumption generally. It's a complicated equation. All of us need to keep pressing on the Congress to do more, to keep our trade agreements in place, and I can tell you… we've had some difficult (trade) steps for the last several years."
(The last several years saw record volumes of exports. Tom Vilsack, current U.S. Ag Secretary and former U.S. Dairy Export Council president wrote in a blog post that 2018 was "a banner year for dairy exporters." We all recall what 2018 was like for dairy farmers.)
Sec. Redding also referenced the negative PPDs on milk checks as an issue. He stated that, "The price difference between Class III and IV has cost Pennsylvania dearly, so that's also part of the federal conversation."
Sen. Argall picked up on the Secretary's mention of 'federal conversation,' asking a second time about whole milk in schools.
"Are you working with anyone across the country to try to repeal that portion of the (federal) act that has greatly reduced the number of students (allowed) to drink whole milk in the schools?" the Senator asked.
"We have not been engaged in repeal. We have been engaged in what I mentioned earlier, about making sure that the Dietary Guidelines include dairy, and they do continue the three a day," said Redding. "We have continued to advocate for continued investment in dairy, making sure that we do the trade (exports), making sure we have the pricing pieces."
The Secretary went on to say; "We are advocating at a lot of different levels for dairy on the nutrition side and also the dairy investment side."
In regard to new processing, after years of discussion, two dairy bills were passed by the House in the 2019-20 session, only to die in the Senate Ag Committee. One was a dairy keystone opportunity zones bill and the other was a bill dealing with transparency and distribution of state-mandated over-order premiums. Both bills, sponsored by Rep. John Lawrence had passed unanimously or nearly unanimously in the House last session.
During a meeting last week of the Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee, Berks County dairy farmer Nelson Troutman, a committee member, noted a dairy redevelopment project in his county that looked to be a sure thing, only to be dropped.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania has dropped from fifth to seventh, and now eighth in the nation in dairy production.
"This has gone on as the dairy industry consolidates," said Mike Eby, a Lancaster County farmer, member of the grassroots committee, chairman of National Dairy Producers Organization and executive director of Organization for Competitive Markets.
"The Secretary mentions the momentum we have from fluid milk consumption rising recently. Increased sales of whole milk are a key to that increase. Legalizing whole milk choice in schools makes sense for children and dairy farmers," Eby explained.
"Everything is political in this. Why do we not have whole milk in schools? People have no clue how important this is for dairy farmers. We have already lost a generation of milk drinkers," notes Dale Hoffman, a Potter County dairy producer and member of the grassroots committee having worked on this issue for several years.
Even the Pennsylvania Dairy Futures Commission, which was referenced by Sec. Redding in his comment about "making progress," addressed the issue of whole milk in schools.
The Commission was established by the state assembly in 2019 and issued its lengthy report in Aug. 2020 on a broad range of dairy issues. In one area of the report, the Commission made recommendations to improve the school milk experience, specifically stating: "Federal school milk program standards should allow the flexibility to offer a choice in flavored and unflavored milk, including whole milk."
While several key state lawmakers report they are looking for an opening to do something on this at the state level, Secretary Redding evades the question, even changing the subject when asked about whether he is advocating for this in the federal conversation.
Instead, the Secretary responded by saying the Department advocates in the federal conversation for trade agreements, pricing pieces, and on the nutrition side being satisfied to have the '3-a-day' in the school diet.
Here are a few questions Pennsylvania dairy producers may want to ask Pa. Ag Secretary Redding, by contacting the Pa. Department of Agriculture at 717-787-4737.
— Why does the Secretary advocate for 'trade' while completely sidestepping the question about advocating for whole milk choice in schools?
— Does the Secretary support Congressman Glenn "G.T." Thompson's bill H.R. 1861 Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act to legalize whole milk choice in schools?
— Will the Dept. of Agriculture advocate for the health of children and the Commonwealth's ag community by advocating for the bipartisan efforts to bring the choice of whole milk back to schools?
— In the budget hearing, Sec. Redding again identified the need for more processing in Pennsylvania. With properties up for redevelopment over the past few years in the heart of dairy areas, what is being done to encourage redevelopment projects for dairy processing?
— Given at least one such project was underway and then abandoned, what are the influences and obstacles?
The effort to legalize the choice of whole milk in schools is a federal and state issue. Public awareness has been increased over the past two years through the joint efforts of the Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee and 97 Milk, including a petition that is being revitalized as the U.S. Congress and State Assembly begin a new legislative session. Graphic by Sherry Bunting
Posted in Dairy, Nutrition	| Tagged Fluid milk, PA Ag Secretary Russell Redding, PA Dairy, PA Department of Agriculture, school milk, whole milk for healthy kids	| Leave a reply
Congressman: '97 Milk is leading the way'
Posted on April 26, 2021 by Agmoos
"This is more than an organization, it is a movement, and I love that," said Congressman Glenn 'G.T.' Thompson, speaking to dairy producers and enthusiasts at the 97 Milk meeting in Lancaster County, Pa.
By Sherry Bunting, previously published in Farmshine April 2021
EPHRATA, Pa. – "This organization is getting it done," said U.S. Congressman Glenn "G.T." Thompson (R-Pa.-15th). Thompson is the Republican leader of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, and he gave the efforts of 97 Milk LLC and the Grassroots Pa. Dairy Advisory Committee two thumbs-up. Rep.
Thompson was a special guest addressing the group of mostly dairy farmers attending the 97 Milk reorganizational meeting at Mt. Airy Fire Hall near Ephrata, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, Apr. 6, 2021.
The groups' efforts were formed in early 2019, after Berks County dairy farmer Nelson Troutman painted his first round bale with the words: "Drink Whole Milk 97% Fat Free".
Nelson Troutman of Pennsylvania and Ann Diefendorf of New York talk 'round bale' painting technique after the meeting — comparing notes.
At the 97milk.com and facebook page @97milk, are the words: "We believe… in supporting local dairy farmers. We believe we can make a difference by sharing facts, benefits, and the good taste of whole milk so consumers can make informed decisions."
According to Congressman Thompson, the battle to improve milk demand and to legalize whole milk choice in schools has two fronts – legislative policy and milk messaging.
"97 Milk is leading the way in the nation on messaging. Going from bales and beyond, what you have done is just incredible," the Congressman said. "Keep doing what you are doing with the well-designed combination of influencing, marketing and providing factual information."
In fact, Rep. Thompson took home and now proudly displays a "Drink Whole Milk – School Lunch Choice – Citizens for Immune Boosting Nutrition" yard sign in his front yard.
Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee chairman Bernie Morrissey has been printing and distributing hundreds of these yard signs with the donations of area agribusinesses, other organizations and individuals.
Rep. Thompson represents 24% of Pennsylvania's land mass across 14 counties. Even before becoming the lead Republican in the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, dairy has always been a key farm focus for him, and bringing the choice of whole milk back to schools a key issue. As Ag Committee Ranking Member, he now also represents all of agriculture with responsiveness across the nation.
He reported that "progress is being made. But we are starting in the hole, not from a neutral position. We have lost a generation of milk drinkers since whole milk was demonized and removed from schools in 2010."
His bill, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, could change that. H.R. 1861 is a bipartisan bill that has been reintroduced in this 2021-22 session of Congress with cosponsor Rep. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat from New York. The bill currently has 24 cosponsors.
In fact, among those attending the meeting in Pennsylvania was a contingent of folks from upstate New York looking to start a 97 Milk chapter there.
Also in attendance was David Lapp of Blessings of Hope. He confirmed that their partnership with 97 Milk was "a big success," raising over $70,524 of which $16,000 remains for processing and buying milk. So far, those funds processed or purchased 45,000 gallons of whole milk for those in need, and over 20,000 packaged gallons were additionally donated during the pandemic.
Blessings of Hope was also involved in the Farmers to Families Food Box program through USDA, distributing a million gallons since May, of which Lapp said, 90% was whole milk!
GN Hursh, a Lancaster County dairy farmer and 97 Milk chairman, thanked everyone for doing their part to educate and promote whole milk. Referring to Berks County dairy farmer Nelson Troutman as "the seed" of the 97 Milk movement painting the first round bales with Drink Whole Milk 97% Fat Free, he asked Troutman to introduce the Congressman during the meeting — an honor Troutman put in the way only he can: "I never thought I would be introducing the Ranking Member of the House Ag Committee in 'downtown' Mt. Airy."
That got a laugh from the group sitting in the rural town fire hall of northern Lancaster County.
The humble and persistent work of 97 Milk and the Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee took root in southeast Pennsylvania, but is also being joined-in by dairy producers and supporters across the state and nation, noticed by dignitaries and officials in policy and legislative arenas and reaching every-day families and consumers across the nation and around the world.
The needle is being moved.
Marketing manager Jackie Behr said the key is to keep bringing ideas forward for the website, social media and events. She took the attendees through 97 Milk's digital presence step by step and showed how the goal is to keep things fresh and keep bringing information and facts to the eyes of the growing traffic coming to the website.
Behr showed how the website and social media together give facts about whole milk, fun activities, recipes, and a personal connection of consumers to farmers.
"We always want to have new facts and something fun," said Behr. "We rely on you to send us news articles and ideas that we can put on the website and post. We also rely on farmers to send in photos and thoughts and stories to keep it fresh."
She reminded everyone that the website has a download section to download and print things, as well as a store to buy banners, t-shirts, hats and more. The store also has new items coming in to keep it fresh.
The Dairy Question Desk has been popular. "We want to be transparent and we want people asking questions," said Behr.
While website visits are up, store purchases of promotional items and donations to 97 Milk are down. The 97 Milk board, including Behr, and others who assist at times with the social media work, as well as everyone doing events and other campaigns, are volunteers.
In the past 28 days, alone, the website had 1044 users and 2054 page views – 77% of them are new users. Businesses that have mentioned 97 Milk on their websites have driven traffic to 97milk.com as well.
This is something Behr wants more agribusinesses to consider. It's an easy way to support the movement, just by putting a link to 97milk.com on a business website to support dairy farmers and milk education. This improves searchability for 97milk.com when people look for information about milk.
The top referral sites over the past year were Farmshine, FM Browns, Lotus Web Designs, R&J Dairy Consulting, Sauder Brothers, and Sensenig's Feed Mill.
Social media data show that every age group is represented in the traffic, and followers are 60% women, 40% men, with over 400,000 people reached in the past 28 days. Some months the million-mark has been reached!
"This is all free advertising," said Behr about the posts done six days a week. She said 97 Milk has not paid to "boost" any social media posts.
A good post about something people are interested in and don't know about, attracts that wider reach, according to Behr.
Jackie Behr of R&J Dairy Consulting serves on the volunteer board of 97 Milk as marketing director. She talked about the impact and statistics showing how consumers are being reached through the 97milk.com website and social media platforms.
"We are making connections and keeping the message positive," she said. "People are responding. Since the pandemic, we see opportunity in expanding our reach because people want to support local farms and small businesses. We are giving them the simple facts that they don't know and aren't getting anywhere els."
It was reported during the meeting that whole milk sales nationwide were up 2.6% in 2020 and up 1% in 2019. Flavored whole milk was up over 8% in 2019 and off by 1% in 2020, perhaps as a function of offerings more than demand. It's important to note that whole milk sales are the largest volume category and these are USDA volume statistics, and 2% reduced-fat milk is the second largest volume category.
On a value basis, other reports put the whole milk increase at more than 5% over two years. In addition 2% milk sales have gained, but whole milk is still number one for 2019 and 2020. In the Northeast Milk Marketing Area, 2% milk sales grew by 7%, while whole milk grew 2.6%.
In the heart of the area in Pennsylvania where the 97 Milk movement started, at least two large supermarket chains have confirmed a 10 to 14% increase in whole milk sales in 2020. This shows the potential a wider reach can have as the 97 Milk movement grows.
These gains in whole and 2% milk sales volume have helped stabilize the overall fluid milk volume decline that was steepest from 2010 through 2019, after the choice of whole milk was prohibited in schools.
While talking about his Whole Milk for Health Kids Act legislation, Thompson referenced this concern also, saying that the removal of whole milk from schools resulted in losing a whole generation of milk drinkers, and some of that generation are or will soon be raising the next generation.
Both he and Behr mentioned "ripple effects." This is an opportunity where whole milk education can impact whether the ripple effect is positive or negative for farmers and families.
When asked about current Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack's position on getting whole milk back in schools after Vilsack was Secretary when it was removed, Thompson explained that Congress should take most of that blame. The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act was passed in 2010 when Speaker Pelosi was Speaker of the House. He said Michelle Obama had little to do with this move. He also noted that he has had discussions with Secretary Vilsack before he was confirmed by the Senate.
"The Secretary knows my priorities," said Thompson. During his time bringing news from Washington, he touched on milk identity labeling, Federal Milk Marketing Order pricing, and other dairy-related policy, but focused on the issues around legalizing whole milk choice in schools.
He also explained that any legislation on school nutrition must come through the Education and Labor Committee.
Legalizing the choice of whole milk in schools is a federal and state issue across the country.
"I wish school nutrition legislation was in our Ag Committee jurisdiction. We would have fixed it by now. That's something we can look into," said Thompson, blaming bad science and those on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) Committee with an agenda. He talked about working toward Congress having a way to approve DGAs, and his desire for hearings on the DGA process.
"To get things done and make them last, we have to work on both sides of the aisle," the Congressman said, noting how tight the votes are between Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate. Already, the list of cosponsors this session show interest among members of the Education and Labor committee.
Thompson also mentioned looking at other ways to legislatively approach the school beverage issue.
When asked what producers can do to help move the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act forward, Thompson said: "Keep doing what you are doing."
In the business portion of the 97 Milk meeting April 6, chairman GN Hursh talked about how the group has navigated the pandemic to reach the public with the good news about whole milk.
Operated by volunteers and funded by donations and the 97milk.com store, 97 Milk accomplishes a lot with a little.
Treasurer Mahlon Stoltzfus reported income of $11,000 matching expenses of $11,000 and noted that donations have slowed even as progress in the group's mission has increased.
Hursh asked producers to get involved. He noted that with all of the positive things happening, the key to keeping the momentum going is producer involvement.
Behr explained how important it is for dairy farmers to send in pictures and stories from their farms and ideas for social media posts.
For example, one idea that came from a farmer was to simply picture a red-cap gallon jug of whole milk and ask: "Reach for the red cap. Drink whole milk." The post has been extremely popular and widely shared both times it was used.
From left are the 2019-20 97 Milk LLC board, GN Hursh, chairman; Lois Beyer, secretary; Mahlon Stoltzfus, treasurer; Jordan Zimmerman, campaign manager; Jackie Behr, marketing manager.
During the meeting, board elections were conducted. Remaining as chairman is Hursh of Ephrata, with Stoltzfus of Bird In Hand remaining as treasurer. Outgoing secretary is Lois Beiler of Lititz, and incoming secretary is Chris Landis, Stevens. Outgoing campaign coordinator is Jordan Zimmerman of East Earl, and incoming campaign manager is Mark Leid, New Holland. Jackie Behr of R&J Dairy Consulting will remain on the board as marketing manager.
"This effort is not about just one person. It's everyone doing their part," said Hursh.
"There are three parts to this organization: website and social media; promotional materials and events; and the third is the key that could be missing," he said, passing around a mirror: You.
To send photos, farm stories and to share ideas, email 97wholemilk@gmail.com
To donate to the 97 Milk efforts, visit 97milk.com/donate/ where there is a paypal option to donate online. Or mail donations to 97 Milk LLC, PO Box 87 Bird In Hand, PA 17505
Posted in Dairy, Diet, Nutrition	| Tagged 97 Milk, Drink Whole Milk 97% Fat Free, whole milk, whole milk for healthy kids	| Leave a reply
'Vote' Whole Milk School Lunch Choice: Comment to USDA by Dec. 28, 2020
Posted on December 7, 2020 by Agmoos
EPHRATA, Pa. – Want whole milk choice in school? Become a citizen for immune-boosting nutrition and comment at this link by Dec. 28, 2020: https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FNS-2020-0038-0001
Below is a sample comment, you can personalize in the official public comment section at this link https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FNS-2020-0038-0001 by Dec. 28, 2020:
Dear USDA,
We appreciate the flexibilities rule, but it does not go far enough to benefit the healthy choices of our school children. WHOLE MILK should be offered as a choice at school meals because children and teens in trials preferred whole milk 3 to 1 over low-fat milk, meaning they drank it and consumed the nutrients instead of discarding! Store sales of whole milk during the pandemic are up 14% (while other classes are down). Parents are choosing whole milk for their families because it is nutritious and offers better absorption of important fat-soluble vitamins and other immune-supporting advantages.
Research shows whole milk consumption among healthy children was associated with higher (immune-boosting) Vitamin D stores and lower body mass index, a 40% reduction in risk of becoming overweight! Children and teens love whole milk so they will drink it instead of throwing it away.
In fact, a high school/middle school trial in Pennsylvania last year showed that when all fat percentages of milk were offered, milk consumption grew by 65% and the volume of milk being wasted / discarded declined 95%!
Current rules and "flexibilities" don't even allow schools to offer whole milk or 2% reduced fat milk a la carte. We want to see flexibility that allows children to choose 2% milk and whole milk, which is standardized to 3.25% fat, so they can benefit from the healthy nutrition they love instead of being limited to fat-free and 1% low-fat milks that they throw away. Students discard the fat-free and low-fat milk then buy drinks devoid of nutrition and sweetened with a combination of high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners! At middle and high school levels, USDA rules allow the choice of caffeinated energy drinks — but not whole milk! That's a win for big beverage and foodservice companies, but not for our children. Let the health of our children win with whole milk choice.
BACKGROUND: USDA Food Nutrition Services (FNS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register Nov. 27 that would 'maintain' the flexibility for school meals related to milk, grains, and sodium.
For the milk portion, the proposed rule would make permanent the choice of flavored low-fat 1% milk in child nutrition programs — without waivers. Back in 2010, low-fat flavored milk was eliminated along with whole and 2% reduced-fat white milk. This rule is a small step to solidify the change made by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to at least provide schools with flexibility to allow the choice of 1% low-fat flavored milk in 2017. At that time, flavored milk in schools was required to be fat-free.
The recent new rule up for comment was issued as an administrative step to insure that USDA is complying with a 2018 court ruling that challenged these flexibilities. The ruling required a comment period for the rule. Schools currently have this flexibility temporarily in all USDA child nutrition programs through June 30, 2021, in response to the COVID-19 national emergency.
USDA says it is "committed to listening to and collaborating with customers, partners, and stakeholders to make these reforms as effective as possible, and encourages all those who are interested in school meals to share their comments and recommendations for improvement through regulations.gov."
This is an opportunity for communities to respond and ask USDA for better flexibilities.
The Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee and 97 Milk will post to Regulations.gov docket — again — the 30,000-name petition with hundreds of comments supporting the choice of whole milk in schools. As customers, partners and stakeholders in child nutrition programs, parents, teachers, school foodservice staff, farmers and community in general have a stake in what USDA allows and doesn't allow as beverage choices in schools.
Here is the link to the full docket regarding the USDA school lunch flexibility rule https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=25&so=DESC&sb=commentDueDate&po=0&dct=PS&D=FNS-2020-0038
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged National school lunch program, school lunch, school milk, whole milk, whole milk for healthy kids, whole milk in schools	| 1 Reply
Grassroots dairy meet with Rep. Thompson, a champion for Ag; Dietary Guidelines, whole milk in schools top the agenda
Posted on November 2, 2020 by Agmoos
Congressman G.T. Thompson (center) is flanked on left by Dale Hoffman of Potter County and Sherry Bunting of Lancaster County and on his right by Bernie Morrissey of Berks County, Krista Byler of Crawford County and Nelson Troutman of Berks County. The Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee involved in the 97 Milk effort met with Rep. Thompson this week on dairy issues.
By Sherry Bunting, Farmshine, October 30, 2020
BELLEFONTE, Pa. — From the Dietary Guidelines and whole milk choice in schools to dairy checkoff and milk pricing formula concerns, five members of the Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee involved in the 97 Milk effort from across northwestern, northern tier and southeast Pennsylvania met with U.S. Congressman Glenn "G.T." Thompson (R-15th) in Bellefonte, Pa. this week to talk about dairy.
Rep. Thompson helped lead the writing of a letter signed by 53 members of the U.S. House, including Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Ranking Member Mike Conaway (R-Texas) to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue asking for a delay on the decision about final Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) for 2020-25 until all of the science on saturated fat is considered.
Despite the bipartisan letter, Thompson indicated that USDA and Health and Human Services (HHS) will move ahead to finalize the guidelines by the end of the year.
Thompson shared his thoughts about the disconnect between the legislative branch and a bureaucratically appointed DGA Committee in formulating the DGAs which have so much impact on children and Pennsylvania's rural economy.
With the election next week in the balance, Thompson said he is looking at introducing language that would give the legislative branch some role in advise and consent with regard to the DGAs. He also praised his colleagues from Pennsylvania as many have cosponsored the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act and the Give Milk Act. These bills would allow whole milk as an option at school and in the WIC program.
Under the current House leadership, the bill on school milk is not moving as it has not been taken up by the chair of the Committee on Education and Labor.
"As you know, our office made recommendations for members of the DGA Committee, but that didn't happen," said Thompson. "It's hard to believe that the modern-day science is being ignored on this issue of whole milk. We need checks and balances, not only to serve the needs of children in school, to give them this choice, but also because of the damage these rules do to our rural economy."
It goes without saying that if the Republicans are able to gain a majority in the House, there would be a better pathway to moving on some of these issues surrounding the way whole milk (and even 2% milk for that matter) are banned from school choices while other less nutritional beverages are offered unchecked. With Democrats in the majority for the past three years, there has been no movement on the bills.
Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee member Krista Byler of Spartansburg, Crawford County, reported to the Congressman that while the beverages offered ala carte at school are calorie controlled per serving, there are no limits on how many of these beverages a student can purchase. At the middle and high school level, sports drinks, diet tea coolers, diet soda, and energy drinks are all allowed.
"But students can't purchase even one serving of whole milk," she said. "They simply aren't allowed."
"We need to get back to where milk is not tied to the school meal calculation and let it stand alone, and give students the choice," said Thompson.
Byler serves as head chef and foodservice director for Union City School District, and her husband Gabe operates a 125-cow dairy farm with his father and brother, along with beef cattle and grain crops.
She explained that schools are afraid to move outside of the USDA edicts based on the Dietary Guidelines because of financial repercussions, and it's difficult to get others to see the issue because so many people are generally unaware that children are limited to only fat-free and 1% low-fat milk options at school.
Five members of the Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee from around the state talked about dairy issues with Congressman Thomspon, especially the Dietary Guidelines and getting whole milk choice in schools.
The group discussed ideas for how to obtain waivers from USDA to do a statewide trial where schools could simply offer all fat levels of milk and collect the data. One such trial, done quietly in Pennsylvania during the 2019-20 school year, revealed that when students at the middle and high school level were given the choice, they chose whole milk 3 to 1 over low-fat. At the same time total milk consumption rose by 65%, and the volume of milk discarded daily by students declined by 95%.
"That's huge," said Byler, a constituent of the Congressman. "We don't need to reinvent a new 'kids milk,' we already have one that students will choose if given the opportunity."
Thompson agreed, stating that, "Now is the time to look at something like this because what have families been turning to in this pandemic? Whole milk," he said.
This is supported by the most recent USDA data through June showing that both whole milk and 2% milk sales made big gains in June as supply chains worked through the early Covid issues – pushing total fluid milk sales up 2.2% over year ago year-to-date January through June with whole and 2% unflavored white milk together accounting for more than 70% of all fluid milk sales categories, and whole milk alone being the largest selling category.
"Whole milk is what families are seeking when the choice is up to them," said Thompson, indicating that while consumers are seeing the science on whole milk, the DGA committee is not.
"All of the doctors interviewed on news programs during this pandemic are talking about Vitamin D as boosting the immune system," said Bernie Morrissey of the Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee.
Thompson observed that with Vitamin D and other nutrients being fat soluble, the DGAs are missing the boat.
Morrissey and Troutman are working with businesses and organizations buying and distributing "Vote Whole Milk School Lunch Choice, Citizens for Immune Boosting Nutrition – 97milk.com" yard signs that are proliferating across the countryside. A link at the 97 Milk website lets citizens know how to get involved, and a second link provides information to get involved in delaying the 2020-25 Dietary Guidelines until all the science is considered on saturated fat.
Concerns about the transparency and accountability of the dairy checkoff program were also discussed, and Thompson was receptive to looking at ways to turn this around.
The Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee suggested ending the influence of importers by ending the import checkoff of 7.5 cents per hundredweight equivalent. This seemed like a good idea when it was implemented in 2007, but in retrospect has set the globalization direction of the national dairy checkoff's unified marketing plan and ended the practice of promoting Real Seal, made in the U.S. products.
The committee was also looking at the promotion order asking the Secretary of Agriculture, who can amend the order at any time, or to work legislatively to clarify producer rights under the law in where their 'local' dime portion of the checkoff is assigned for education and promotion.
Nelson Troutman, a dairy farmer in Richland, Berks County, who started the Drink Whole Milk 97% Fat Free 'baleboards' noted that the corn and soybean growers have periodic review of their checkoff programs, and asked if there is a way for dairy farmers paying the mandatory checkoff to have more say on whether it should continue, or more transparency to see all of the expenditures and the plans submitted by DMI to USDA.
The Committee also suggested evaluating the way the boards are formed and even noted that the language of the order suggests the Secretary can call for a referendum even without a petition by 10% of the producers and importers.
They noted that fresh fluid milk and other fresh dairy products are a critical market for Pennsylvania producers, but the emphasis of the industry appears to be moving in a different direction. Education, promotion and research are important, but the current direction of the national drivers is in question.
Dale Hoffman of Hoffman Farms, Shinglehouse, Potter County and Troutman both shared the economic conditions in milk pricing and marketing of milk, especially the extreme difference between high protein value and CME cheese markets since June compared with what dairy farmers in the Northeast are actually seeing in their milk checks as negative PPDs subtract the value of their milk components.
In fact, the official Dairy Margin coverage margin for Pennsylvania is running $1 to $3 behind the U.S. average for June through September, when normally Pennsylvania runs with the U.S. average or 20 to 50 cents above it. The divergence makes it hard for producers to use risk management tools and have them function as intended.
Hoffman noted that producers have lost their ability to market their milk competitively in the region – especially in the north and west of the state — and their voice in how milk is priced is lacking. He observed that even Farm Bureau is recognizing this issue with some new recommendations.
Thompson welcomed the idea for a national hearing on milk pricing, especially as the next Farm Bill is not far off, and these issues need to be on the table early.
But first, there's an election to get past. It is hoped that after November 3, these issues can be looked at. This has certainly been a difficult year on many fronts for all Americans, and the Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee was grateful to speak with the Congressman about their concerns.
Dale and Carol Hoffman of Hoffman Farms took "Vote Whole Milk" yard signs home to Potter County.
Posted in agriculture, Dairy	| Tagged dairy checkoff, dairy markets, Dietary Guidelines, whole milk for healthy kids, whole milk in schools	| 1 Reply
'Kids Milk' project receives checkoff funding, researchers look to remove lactose and whey, add sugar
Posted on October 18, 2020 by Agmoos
Does milk need reinventing for kids? USDA and dairy checkoff say yes. Meanwhile kids, parents and experts who've studied the issue say… not so fast… just allow the schools to provide whole milk as a choice. Istock photo by Aaron Amat
ALBANY, N.Y. – As part of the 2021 checkoff funds for Cornell dairy research approved recently by the New York State Dairy Promotion Advisory Board is the first phase (2021-22) of a two-year project to develop and build a "Kids Milk" for schools, foodservice and retail. The first phase is to complete the successful multi-step innovation process (remove lactose and add sugar), and the second phase will be to implement the "future view" (remove whey to improve shelf-stable flavor and reduce transportation cost and refrigeration).
The project was one of 12 presented by Cornell, which is one of five universities that are part of DMI's Dairy Research Institute (DRI). The DRI was formed as a 501 c 3 non-profit by DMI's Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy a decade ago in August of 2010.
Reading through this project's innovation process and vision, in essence, by year two, 'Kids Milk' (aka 'school milk') could be compositionally the same as the ultrafiltered / microfiltered cheese starter milk that has the lactose and whey removed. In essence large-scale-cheese-vat-ready-milk would be positioned as 'Kids Milk' tested and touted as beneficial for children's taste, tolerance and nutritional reasons, of course. (Think about this within the context of the large-scale cheese processing shifts now occurring in the dairy industry.)
According to the researchers' slides presented to the NY Board in September, the 'Kids Milk' will be stripped of lactose, but then have sucrose (sugar) added in order to "achieve a higher sweetness intensity and achieve higher liking scores without increasing calories from carbohydrates in 1% fat chocolate milk," for example. A copy of the Cornell researchers' presentation is available online with the NY Board's minutes at https://agriculture.ny.gov/dairy/dairy-promotion-order
The 'Kids Milk' would also be a high-heat pasteurized, extended shelf-life product, and the second phase talks about making it shelf-stable. In concert with this, another NY checkoff-funded Cornell project, in its second year of research, is determining how to solve off-flavors in extended shelf-life and aseptically-packaged shelf-stable milk products by removing the 'offending' whey — with an eye to the school foodservice applications in terms of transport and refrigeration.
The 'Kids Milk' research project is jointly sponsored by the NY State Dairy Promotion Advisory Board (checkoff) approving $76,269 per year for the portion conducted at Cornell, along with H.P. Hood and Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) funding the portion being conducted at North Carolina State University's dairy research center. Hood's contribution is $50,000 per year and DMI's checkoff contribution is $20,000 to $30,000 per year.
In their presentation of the two-year research and innovation phase (2021-22), the Cornell researchers explained that they have proof of concept as of August 2020 for the first step in the two-step process of removing lactose and adding sugar to replace it. They explain in a power point slide that once they achieve success in the innovation research, they will move to the "view into the future" for 'Kids Milk,' using the microfiltration whey-removal research being done simultaneously at North Carolina State.
The "view of the future" for 'Kids Milk' is revealing and was described by researchers as follows:
Step 3 – "Increase the protein content by ultrafiltration to have 1% fat and 6 to 7% protein to build mouthfeel, achieve a calcium and protein per serving higher than regular milk, and bring the product to a milk solids-not-fat that would allow it to comply with standard of identity for milk and to be labeled lactose-free ultrafiltered milk."
Step 4 – "Increase the protein content by ultrafiltration by a combination of ultrafiltration and microfiltration. Microfiltration removes milk derived whey proteins from milk. The milk derived whey proteins have been identified in our research as the ones that cause the objectionable cooked sulfur flavors in the UHT (extended shelf-life) milks. Our goal is to remove these proteins to build a milk that will taste good to children and meet nutrition guidelines while being shelf-stable. This will reduce shipping and distribution costs for milk by reducing the number of deliveries and the need to separate refrigerated delivery to schools."
Back on August 5, 2020, DMI CEO Tom Gallagher in an 'open mic' call addressed the grassroots push to get whole milk back as a choice in U.S. schools. He stated to the farmers, board members and media on that Aug. 5 call that, "Farmers are great, and our product is great… but even if whole milk is eventually recommended for kids, we still need innovation to get it to the kids in a style that they like."
Voila: 'Kids Milk.'
Meanwhile, as reported in the August 7, 2020 edition of Farmshine, a simple trial at a middle and high school in Pennsylvania was conducted without fanfare — and anonymously due to USDA 'milk rules'. It found that teenagers like milk the way it is, without the reinvention.
In fact, this anonymous 2019-20 trial simply offered all fat percentages of milk, and within the first month, found students choosing whole milk 3 to 1 over the lower fat options. Five months later, students responded favorably to the surveys.
But what was really significant was this: the trial resulted in middle and high school aged students – teenagers! – choosing milk over less healthful competing beverages as revealed by a 65% increase in milk consumption and a 95% decrease in the amount of milk being discarded. Instead of taking the 'served' low-fat and fat-free milk (per USDA), throwing it away and buying something else, the students were choosing milk and drinking it!
Whole milk is also shown to be tolerated by many who claim to be lactose-intolerant as the amount of lactose is slightly less when more of the fat is retained, and the fat slows the rate of absorption of the lactose carbohydrate. This finding is both anecdotal and referenced in an official USDA Dietary Guidelines comment by Dr. Richard Theurer, adjunct professor in the Dept. of Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University. In his comment (2018 and 2020-25) to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, he supports a reversal of the DGA's misguided recommendation that children over age 2 be offered only fat-free and low-fat milk (now required at schools and daycares) instead of the healthy choice of whole milk.
Does milk need to be reinvented with farmer checkoff funds in order to "get it to the kids in a style that they like" as DMI CEO Gallagher suggested during the Aug. 5 open mic call?
Or do students simply need the option of whole milk at school so they can choose what tastes good and is good for them?
Looking at year two of the checkoff-funded Cornell 'Kids Milk' project, the presenters own words offer a clue. They described a successful outcome "will reduce shipping and distribution costs for milk by reducing the number of deliveries and the need to separate refrigerated delivery to schools."
This look into the 'Kids Milk' future reveals the bottom line is the disassembly and extrusion of milk at finer and finer molecular levels to reinvent and build a beverage that fits the increasingly concentrated globalized supply chain of food transformation.
It's really not about the kids, at all.
Author's postscript: Think about this in the context of Coca Cola now owning 100% of the fairlife ultrafiltered milk brand and the potential for reducing school milk ('kids milk') to the equivalent of milk protein concentrate (MPC) added to sucrose or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) for shelf-stable concentrate reconstituted in soda-style — 'just add water' — beverage dispensers. Get the picture?
Posted in Dairy, dairy checkoff	| Tagged dairy checkoff, DMI, kids milk, school lunch, school milk, Ultrafiltered milk, whole milk, whole milk for healthy kids	| 1 Reply
'Vote Whole Milk' yard signs aim to mooove school lunch milk bills forward, here's how to help!
Nelson Troutman, a dairy farmer in Berks County who started the "Drink Whole Milk 97% Fat Free" round bale painting in January 2019 that led to the 97 whole milk education effort, was the first to get a "Vote Whole Milk — School Lunch Choice" yard sign. He's pictured here with grandchildren (l-r) Jase, Emma, Evelyn, Carolyn, Jocelyn, Nolan, Madalyn. Photo submitted
By Sherry Bunting, Farmshine, Sept. 25, 2020
EPHRATA, Pa. — It's campaign season, and here's a campaign everyone should be able to get behind: "Vote WHOLE MILK — School Lunch Choice — Citizens for Immune Boosting Nutrition."
The Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee and 97 Milk LLC are urging citizens to contact their local school boards and other community leaders about adopting resolutions to show federal and state governments they support the right to offer the simple choice of whole milk at school.
Campaign-style yard signs are now available to help communities show their support for the immune-boosting nutrition children love.
Retired agribusinessman Bernie Morrissey of Morrissey Insurance, Ephrata, Pa. and Nelson Troutman, the Berks County dairy farmer who painted the first "Drink Whole Milk 97% Fat Free" round bale, are working together to print yard signs (pictured with this article) and gain sponsorships from additional agribusinesses to make them available to customers and the public.
The first print-run of 300 were supported by and are available from these PA businesses: Wenger's Equipment of Myerstown, Sensenig's Feed Mill of New Holland, K&K Feeds of Richland, Triple M Feeds of Lebanon, and Morrissey Insurance of Ephrata and Troy.
"We are continuing to work on this issue of whole milk choice in schools and are concerned about children having this choice. The signs are professional campaign-style 24-inch by 18-inch yard signs, and it is important that we get them placed as soon as possible," said Morrissey. "We are looking for others to join us as concerned citizens for children's immune boosting nutrition, to get a sign, or several signs, and get them placed. They catch attention and show support."
Morrissey just ordered a second round of 300 signs, so there will be more available shortly for more businesses to get involved in sponsorship and distribution. Companies that want a supply to give out to customers and/or the public can call Bernie at 610.693.6471 to acquire them at cost.
Bernie Morrissey doesn't quit. At age 84, he is a powerhouse for dairy. On a beautiful sunny day this week, he was delivering "Vote Whole Milk — School Lunch Choice" yard signs. Requests have come in from Wisconsin, New York and Virginia to do a bulk supply of signs and Bernie is having a second-run of 300 signs printed for a total of 600 in PA. The first 300 signs popping up in southeast and southcentral Pennsylvania are sponsored and available from Morrissey Insurance, Sensenig's Feed Mill, Wenger's of Myerstown, K&K Feeds and Triple M Farms. The second 300 are up for grabs to businesses that want to make them available to customers and the public. If so, contact Bernie at 610.693.6471 to acquire a supply of signs at the printing cost of $6 each (plus shipping if they can't be picked up). Or to find out how to simply have one for your yard, visit the businesses sponsoring them or call Bernie.
These yard signs include the 97milk.com website where people can go for information about the issue and the effort to bring whole milk choice back to schools.
A "Take Action" tab at the 97milk.com website provides online visitors with information about the issue and how school boards can adopt supportive resolutions. There, they also learn about the Dietary Guidelines process, as well as two bills in Congress and how to send a message to Senators and Representatives asking them to cosponsor and support the bills that would simply allow schools to offer a choice of milks, including whole milk (3.25%) and reduced-fat milk (2%), which are currently banned.
In January 2019, Rep. Glenn G.T. Thompson of Pennsylvania introduced the bipartisan House Bill 832 Whole Milk for Healthy Kids with co-sponsor Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota. Today, it has 42 cosponsors but has not been considered by the House Education and Labor Committee. Senate Bill 1810 Milk in Lunches for Kids was introduced by Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey and Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson in June 2019 and has only 3 cosponsors.
Having publicized the "Vote Whole Milk – School Lunch Choice" effort on social media, 97 Milk received hundreds of shares, likes and comments and a few emails with additional questions. After one school asked for a sample resolution, such a template was developed.
To-date, one school in Wisconsin reports formally adopting the resolution, while two other schools report they are looking at it.
The resolution sample here is also available online on the second page of the "Take Action" document at https://www.97milk.com/wp-content/uploads/TakeAction_092820.pdf
Asking school boards to show support for whole milk choice is one way to help the legislative efforts that are currently stalled in Congress. As schools adopt resolutions, this sends a message to USDA.
An earlier effort consisted of submitting a 30,000-plus-signature petition to members of Congress, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, USDA Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, legislative committee chairs, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, the DGA Federal Register Docket for Comment, and others.
The petition brought awareness but failed to increase the number of cosponsors for the two bills. This means members of Congress are un-moved on this issue despite over 30,000 signatures from across the country requesting the choice of whole milk in schools.
Over the past year, a few representatives of dairy checkoff, dairy industry organizations and a couple dairy processors have indicated in conversation that schools do not support whole milk choice because they can't afford whole milk.
The idea behind the "Vote Whole Milk — School Lunch Choice" yard signs — and the sample school board resolutions — is to get parents and communities involved and to give schools the opportunity to show their tangible support for children's immune boosting nutrition. This is a way for schools and communities to send a signal to state and federal policymakers that they want children to simply have the right to choose whole milk at school instead of being restricted to fat-free and 1% low-fat milk. Enough is enough.
This effort also seeks to make more parents aware that the federal government indeed currently restricts school milk offerings to be only fat-free or 1% low-fat milk. This is something many parents, teachers and even individual school board members are not fully aware of.
School Boards and other groups adopting resolutions are urged to contact their representatives in Congress and their state agriculture and education departments, as well as USDA Food Nutrition Services Deputy Undersecretary Brandon Lipp to let them know of their action.
They are also urged to email 97wholemilk@gmail.com in order to be added to a public list of resolution adopters.
Those who are interested in talking with their school boards about adopting a resolution can use the sample, which can then be customized by their board. This sample is also great for state legislatures, town boards, county commissioners, even civic, educational, health, nutrition, agricultural, and parent-teacher organizations to consider adopting. The more the merrier!
Even in this uncertain time of Covid-19, when schools are doing a combination of on-site and virtual learning, the breakfasts and lunches provided to students learning from home must also align to the same USDA Food Nutrition Services regulations that are dominated by the Dietary Guidelines.
Even the school meal "flexibilities" announced by USDA for bulk meal pickups during the pandemic require schools to obtain waivers and fill out paperwork explaining why low-fat and fat-free are not available — before they can offer the whole milk (3.25% fat) or reduced-fat (2%) milk.
With supermarket sales of whole milk rising 6.5% January through July, and fat-free milk sales falling 22% compared with a year ago, it's obvious more parents choose whole milk for their families at home. Therefore, children should be able to choose the milk they love – the milk they have shown they will drink and not discard – at school.
It's time to remove the federal government's heavy hand on school meals and allow schools to simply offer the choice of whole milk for children's immune boosting nutrition.
Congress and USDA and the Dietary Guidelines process are all dragging heels on this simple change despite the overwhelming evidence of the benefits.
Our schools and community leaders can help get Washington's attention by adopting resolutions.
Our citizens can help show community support by placing yard signs and talking to their school boards.
And our businesses can help by sponsoring and distributing more yard signs and even talking with the civic and community organizations they may belong to.
We can do this!
Posted in Dairy, Nutrition, Uncategorized	| Tagged school lunch, school milk, whole milk, whole milk for healthy kids	| 1 Reply
Posted in Dairy, dairy checkoff, Nutrition	| Tagged dairy checkoff, Dietary Guidelines, whole milk for healthy kids	| Leave a reply
Dietary Guidelines Committee must be stopped, its flawed upcoming report excludes rigorous fat studies
Posted on June 11, 2020 by Agmoos
Drawings by Heidi Krieg Styer as published on Farmshine cover, June 12, 2020 edition
By Sherry Bunting, Farmshine, June 12, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As we have reported for several years now, there is this thing called the Dietary Guidelines for Americans that most people think is simply government guidance of how Americans should eat to be healthy, and that we can take – or leave – that advice based on our own choices and understanding of the science.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans increasingly control our choices in ways subtle and obvious, especially where our children are concerned and especially where the poorest among us are concerned.
They began in the 1980s and are updated every five years by a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Since 2000, these Guidelines have become more restrictive, and in 2010 — under the Obama administration with Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack implementing measures to ban whole milk in schools and then lobbying for the bill, Congress took the step that linked the guidelines more closely than ever to our schoolchildren through the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. The bill is anything but what its name implies.
At the same time, Americans have continued to grow fatter, sicker and sadder as the limits on saturated fat have grown stricter and the federal control more pervasive.
Most of the 'experts' on the DGA Committee are free to choose their own meal pattern. Our schoolchildren, our poor, our chronically ill, our elderly, our military, our economically and nutritionally at-risk persons — their dietary choices are controlled by the DGA. According to the CDC, these are the demographic populations dealing with the most pervasive rise in obesity, diabetes and other chronic illnesses many scientists believe are rooted in the DGAs.
For 40 years, the advice coming from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee every five years, and then virtually rubber-stamped by the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, has led Americans down an unhealthy road. The Committee pushes vegetarian eating patterns, high carb / low fat dogma, and increasingly strict saturated fat restrictions despite sound science to the contrary.
The process needs reform, according to the Academies of Sciences.
The 2020-25 Dietary Guidelines draft will be released next Wednesday, June 17 by the current Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC), and as the Nutrition Coalition and others have been warning, this draft is bad for Americans, bad for our children, and bad for our dairy and livestock producers.
What's more, this draft is based on the deliberations of a committee that excluded rigorous studies showing the saturated fat in milk and dairy products is actually GOOD for us, especially for our children, and that it has little if any negative effect on cardiovascular health and all-cause mortality, with positive effect on Type II diabetes, obesity, cognition, brain function and mood.
Quite literally, the DGAC, Secretaries of Ag and HHS (even Congress and past and present administrations) — in their infinite wisdom and refusal to turn this Titanic away from the iceberg – are happy to watch American health sink, and the survival of our farmers and ranchers to sink right along with it.
If ever there was a time for action (and believe me, this chorus I've sung quite a few times since the year 2000), it is now!
Contact your Senators and Representatives in Washington and ask them to urge Secretaries Perdue and Azar to delay this DGAC report until all of the science is considered.
It is unconscionable that USDA – through its strange screening process that includes "conformance to current federal policy" implemented by department interns – was the first layer prohibiting rigorous science from the DGAC work over the past year.
It is even more deleterious that the DGAC further refined the science included in the saturated fat questions to illogical parameters that no other DGAC subcommittee used for its screening process.
Americans are smart. They are choosing whole milk and full-fat dairy products because they are learning about the science that was buried and suppressed over the past 40 years as well as the new studies surfacing.
But that's only good for the wealthy adults among us. Children are ruled by DGAC decisions, thanks to Congress. Those suffering poor health are ruled by DGAC decisions because medical professionals tend to regurgitate them.
Families in need are perhaps MOST controlled by DGAC decisions because they rely on government feeding programs that must meet these fat-restricting Dietary Guidelines, but are issued SNAP cards that allow them to buy soda and cheap snacks full of carbohydrates that do nothing nutritionally for them.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, how many times have we heard that the obesity and diabetes in our population, especially the poor, increases how harmful this virus is to certain populations, demographically? With these guidelines governing USDA feeding programs, it's no wonder.
Shameful!
Not to mention, a year ago, military generals crafted a letter to Congress over their concerns about recruits being too obese or unhealthy to serve. Yes, the military is another sector of government-feeding that is tied to the flawed Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
So, big deal, my family can still choose. Right? For many families, those choices are made for them when dining out as restaurants increasingly document calories, saturated fat and other information on menus. This is required by the federal government for chain restaurants of a certain size. More of these restaurants admit to using "stealth health" to make adjustments to meals to show that they are meeting – you guessed it – the Dietary Guidelines.
In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began its multi-year Nutrition Innovation Strategy, whereby it is seeking to "modernize" standards of identity to "achieve nutritional goals." FDA also is designing a "good for you" symbol that foods will only get if they meet the criteria being developed. The agency in its meetings over the past year, cited reduced consumption of fat and salt as primary nutritional goals, and have made statements such as "American consume too much protein." The FDA's "modernization" of food labeling and standards of identity will certainly move forward under the good 'ole Dietary Guidelines.
Meanwhile, when it comes to the simple "choice" of whole milk or even 2% in schools and daycares for children over two years of age, these wholesome products are outright banned because of the Dietary Guidelines. In fact, not only does the government require non-fat and 1% milk to be served, cheese and yogurt are also limited to low- and non-fat.
When fat is removed from the diet, carbs and sugars replace it, and foods are not consumed that bring tons of nutrients and vitamins to the table.
Here we are at a crossroads in our nation's health. Obesity and diabetes are reaching epidemic proportions in our children. Iron, iodine, calcium, and certain vitamins, especially fat-soluble vitamins found in whole fat dairy and meats are nutrients of concern. Doctors are finding Americans, especially children and teens, are deficient in these nutrients when low-fat Dietary Guidelines rule the plate.
The only thing that can possibly turn the Titanic as it is already crashing on the iceberg is a groundswell of letters, phone calls, emails and faxes to members of Congress, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, even the President of the United States.
Sheer numbers are needed. To-date, medical and health professionals, scientists, teachers, parents, citizens have commented on the DGAC docket. Many have written letters and opinions, forwarded research that has been excluded, pointed out the flaws in research that was included.
Now Congress needs to hear from their constituents. There's a war to win for our health and our farmers.
Concerned citizens have met with members of Congress over the past year on issues such as whole milk in schools, and yet the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, House bill 832, and Milk in Lunches for Kids Act, Senate Bill 1810, have stalled at 41 and 3 cosponsors, respectively, which is where they were in October when I went to Washington with the first 10,000 of the 30,000 names on the Whole Milk Choice in Schools petition.
There are heavy hitters on the other side of this fat discussion. Never mind the animal and climate activists with their facts all jumbled up, there are huge investments in the future of food by powerful people who want to see the Dietary Guidelines continue the current path.
Part of the screening process used by USDA for science that will be included or excluded from Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee consideration is this curious item shown above: "Framed around relevancy to U.S. Federal Policy". Committee members in October asked for more information on this research screening criteria. USDA explained it to them and those watching that this refers to including only the research that "aligns with current federal policy."
While I was in Washington in October, my eyes were opened. I sat in on the DGAC meeting and wrote about it in Farmshine. There, I learned that one of the screening criteria by USDA for determining what science was "in" or "out" of the DGAC process is this strange point: "relevancy to U.S. federal policy." When a question was asked by a member of the committee about that point, it was explained as "research inclusion that conforms or aligns with current federal policy".
That, my friends, is the unelected bureaucracy feeding itself and pretending to have the scientific basis to use diet to achieve other goals.
I visited Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) that day and asked his staffer why Sen. Casey would not support Senator Pat Toomey's (R-Pa.) Milk in Lunches for Schools bill.
The response? "We (Congress) are not a scientific body. We have a process for that, the Dietary Guidelines."
Yep. There it is again.
When pressed further, asking how citizens – constituents — can redress their concerns with ELECTED officials if that committee stands in the way, I was surprised to hear the staffer note that National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) did not support Sen. Toomey's bill. I had identified myself as a member of the Grassroots PA Dairy Advisory Committee but also as a mother, grandmother and former school board director, but the answer I was given honed-in on my "dairy" reference.
I was told by the Casey staffer that NMPF did not support Toomey's Senate bill on whole milk because it included language that would not just allow the choice of whole milk, but would also exempt school milk choices from the "10% calories from saturated fat limit."
Later, I contacted NMPF and spoke with one of their lobbyists who confirmed that NMPF did not support the Toomey bill language. They did not want that exemption for milk because they said they believed "we can win the fat argument."
Meanwhile, on the day of my trip to Washington in October, as I posted a photo on facebook of USDA Food and Nutrition Services undersecretary Brandon Lipps in front of the Dietary Guidelines sign at the DGAC meeting in the USDA building, I recalled his words to me, that the department loves milk, but that the "science" needs to come together, and that the industry needs to be on the same page. (I had just handed him his copy of the first 10,000 signatures on the whole milk in schools petition)
Mr. Undersecretary, how can "the science" come together when your USDA interns and DGAC members left a lot of the good science on the cutting room floor and effectively screened it out of the "coming together" process these 5-year DGAC cycles are intended to address?
As I walked out of the USDA building to meet with legislators on that day in October 2019, I noticed a post on my facebook newsfeed from Hoard's Dairyman quoting DMI CEO Tom Gallagher as follows: "Now, we're not sure if it will be in this go-around with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans . . . but I believe by the next Dietary Guidelines we will get the fat story reversed," said Gallagher. "That opens up the door to whole milk products and other dairy products in schools, which would be a big plus."
Already in October, when the DGAC process was near its beginning, the top national dairy checkoff leader was publicly admitting defeat. Or, was he actually telegraphing the wishes of DMI "partners" to USDA, another partner, that they'd prefer to keep stalling it.
In this quote, Gallagher makes it look like DMI supports whole milk in schools, while at the same time stalling a change in policy and conceding to a defeat in 2020 before the game got off the ground — while diverting everyone's attention to 2025.
Back in 2014-15, I was involved in that DGAC cycle, writing several columns for a metropolitan newspaper. Same story, different year. You'll find lots of background here.
At the time, I asked checkoff leaders at a dairy meeting why they weren't involved in turning this around on saturated fat and why were they not more vocal in the guidelines process. I was told in 2015, that they were working on it for 2020.
Stall, delay, stall.
Our kids and our farmers don't have 5 more years to get 40 years of wrong and 10 years of really-really-wrong, right.
This week, I was pleased to see Bob Gray who has represented the Northeast Council of Dairy Cooperatives sent out a memo to industry colleagues citing what Nina Teicholz and the Nutrition Coalition have been sounding the alarm about. He urged people to contact members of Congress and ask them to get a delay in the release of the DGAC 2020-25 report, to keep it from being released next Wednesday, and to keep it off the table until the science that was excluded is considered.
Unfortunately, at other levels of industry involvement, the response is a shrug.
For example, two weeks ago, I heard from a dairy farmer who contacted her regional dairy checkoff organization and asked for help distributing whole milk gallons to families in need at her local school during lunch pickup.
"You can't do that," she was told. "It's not allowed."
Unfazed, she contacted the school and the processor anyway, on her own, and both were enthusiastic about making her idea happen. She and her husband purchased the whole milk with their own money – 200 gallons of it – and they stood beside the school foodservice folks and gave it to families driving through picking up school lunches.
Additionally, ADA Northeast is a regional checkoff organization that has indicated to dairy farmers that their taste tests in cities show children don't really notice the difference between whole milk and 1% low-fat milk, and that consumption of milk did not increase when whole milk was offered, but that consumption did increase when 1% chocolate milk was offered instead of just non-fat chocolate milk.
For the industry – it's all about the 1% milk in schools. In fact, if the DGAC report is released next Wednesday and gets on its way to USDA / HHS approval, 1% milk will be kissed goodbye in schools as well because the DGAC is doubling-down on saturated fat levels, not loosening them.
Meanwhile, a high school / middle school trial in western Pennsylvania would put these checkoff findings to shame. Teenagers given the choice of whole milk this school year favored whole milk three to one over 1% low-fat milk. The milk choices were put in front of them with no information, and within a short time, they figured it out on their own. Within five months of students having this choice of whole milk, teenagers were consuming 65% more milk and the amount of milk being discarded fell by 95%.
On every level – nutrition, satiety, sustainability, environment – you name it, that's a win. A win that schools and children will not get to realize if the DGAC issues its 2020-25 report doubling-down on saturated fat.
This Dietary Guidelines scandal has many players and parties involved – and it's obvious by now this has nothing whatsoever to do with "the science."
Contact your Senators and Representatives as soon as possible before Wed., June 17 and ask them to urge Sec. Perdue and Sec. Azar to delay the DGAC report and to send the committee back to the drawing board to include the science they left out.
If you don't know who represents you in Washington, use this link to plug in your home address at this link to find out:
Also, register your comment with Secretaries Perdue and Azar here
Let's get this Titanic turned around. We don't have 5 more years to waste. Who's with me?
Posted in Dairy, dairy checkoff, Diet, Nutrition, Uncategorized	| Tagged DGA, Dietary Guidelines, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, MyPlate, school lunch, USDA Food Nutrition Services, whole milk for healthy kids	| 3 Replies
Whole Milk Gallon Challenge: Titusville couple uses 'stimulus' payment to bless, educate, inspire
Posted on May 11, 2020 by Agmoos
Jake and Casey Jones wanted to bless and educate their community with a Whole Milk Gallon Challenge they hope will inspire others.
By Sherry Bunting, Farmshine, May 8, 2020
TITUSVILLE, Pa. – Whole Milk Gallon Challenge? It's not a milk-chugging contest. It's a way to bless the community, support local farms, educate the public, involve the school district, and get people talking about the choice of whole milk for healthy kids, healthy families, healthy communities.
Jake and Casey Jones of Titusville, Pennsylvania held their first Whole Milk 500 Gallon Challenge at the local middle school last Friday, May 1. They purchased 500 gallons of whole milk from a local bottler and 500 educational handouts through 97 Milk and worked with the Titusville Area School District to set up a drive-through in a parking lot adjacent to where families pick up school meals on Fridays.
The response was overwhelming and the gratitude from the community, humbling.
It all began when the CARES Act passed by Congress resulted in COVID-19 'stimulus' payments to Americans last month. Jake, a territory manager for Mycogen, was still working full time in agriculture and had not been asked to take a pay cut. As the 'stimulus' credit showed up in their bank account, they were seeing farms forced to dump milk.
They decided to use the 'stimulus' funds to do something that would have an impact on their community and local dairy farms.
Both Jake's and Casey's parents have dairy farms, and they are involved in Jake's parents' farm. They saw the level of losses, revenue down 30% in a month and down potentially 60% by June. They had previously contacted Farmshine about the whole milk choice in schools petition and they were seeing schools provide meals during COVID-19 closures.
At first, they thought they could donate whole milk for the school to give out with meals. However, the USDA waivers for that were only in force for the month of April, and the process was complicated. Schools had to prove the fat-free or 1% milk was not available.
"We were frustrated — always hearing reasons why you can't do this or that, when it comes to milk. We were tired of seeing and accepting roadblocks," Jake related in a Farmshine phone interview this week. "We decided to find a way to do what we could to impact the situation. We feel incredibly blessed, and this felt like the right thing to do — putting the 'stimulus' money to something bigger to hand out a gallon of whole milk separately, but in conjunction with the school lunch system."
Now they are hoping to inspire others to keep do the same.
Jake and Casey Jones (left), along with (l-r) student volunteer Joey Banner, Titusville Area School District superintendent Stephanie Keebler, school maintenance manager Garret Rose (front), and Ralph Kerr (not pictured) from Titusville Dairy helped make the Whole Milk Gallon Challenge successful.
In April, one of the first contacts they made was to the Titusville Area School District superintendent Dr. Stephanie Keebler. "We told her our idea, and she immediately jumped on board as one of our biggest supporters," the couple confirmed.
"Jake reached out to me by email, and it was just amazing, very generous," said Keebler in a phone interview. "They worked collaboratively with their church (Pleasantville Presbyterian) and the milk board and with our local Titusville Dairy and the manager Ralph Kerr to acquire the milk."
Keebler coordinated things on the school end to make sure they distributed the whole milk in a way that would not put their foodservice program at risk (low-fat rules) and got building maintenance, Garret Rose, involved to set up the traffic flow for safety.
The school has been serving 450 to 650 individual students' two meals a day since the COVID-19 closures. Meals are grouped for pickup on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at three locations.
"When you talk about the critical need we have within our community, our foodservice people have been fantastic. They have never taken a day off and there has been no lapse in service for our families," Keebler indicated.
By Tuesday, April 28, the Joneses had the details set. Keebler used the district's all-call technology to notify the families of the district's 1,915 students to let them know about the milk distribution.
A steady flow of cars came through the Titusville Area middle school parking lot Friday as the Whole Milk Gallon Challenge was set up at the front of the school as meals were picked up at the back.
"As families drove in the back through the bus loop for the meals, we reminded them to enter the front and follow the driving pattern to where they had the refrigerated truck with the milk," Keebler related.
Jake and Casey, with two young children at home, were assisted by a student volunteer Joey Banner in handing out the gallons and information cards. He was enthused about the challenge too.
"We are extremely grateful they reached out with this idea. The ease of collaboration between the family and the district pulled off a very successful event. Developing relationships and connecting with the community is vital," Keebler noted.
On the milk end, Ralph Kerr and the Titusville Dairy team were instrumental, according to Jake. They provided logistics, the refrigerated truck and put them in touch with Marburgers Dairy to arrange the purchase of the milk.
"Once we had the green light, setting up the logistics went fast. We wanted every gallon of whole milk to have a handout with information," he added. "We wanted to bless and educate at the same time, while building some ground level support for the choice of whole milk in schools."
Other than the school district's automated call to student families, the Joneses did not advertise the event. Until Friday.
"We did a facebook post at 10:30 a.m. that morning, knowing the school lunch pickup was set for 11 a.m. By 10:35 a few vehicles were lining up," Jake explained. "As the first few cars drove through, we told people to let their friends and neighbors know. By 11:00 a.m., we had a big rush, and then it was steady. People were excited and asking questions."
After the school meal pickup ended at 12:30, traffic hit a lull. That's when their facebook post and word-of-mouth drove visitors in from the community.
"Grandparents said their grandchildren told them to come see us. People drove through saying neighbors told them or that they saw it on facebook," Jake reflected. "We had a massive second rush of people, and some asked for extra gallons so they could take to others."
It was gratifying to see the blessing multiply.
By 3:30, they had given out 408 gallons of whole milk and contacted the local Associated Charities to receive the remaining 92 gallons.
"The director pulled in to pick those up as we were cleaning up. She told us 'you have no idea how many people ask for dairy products — especially milk.' She was also excited about the 97 Milk cards, to learn something new about whole milk and to give them out with their meal boxes," said Jake.
"By the end of the day we were exhausted, but amazed," said Casey, and by the evening, they heard from someone involved in agriculture who was inspired to provide funding for another Whole Milk Gallon Challenge if Jake and Casey would help with logistics.
"That's phase two of our mindset, that anyone can do this," said Jake. "Whether it's 500 gallons or 200 gallons or 100, or maybe it's 200 ice cream cones — to be creative and give not just based on financial need, but as something positive, uplifting and informative for the community."
While they were distributing, parents were already posting their appreciation on social media. Jake and Casey updated everyone with a post later that day, and it spread through over 200 shares, nearly 500 likes and over 100 comments in short order. Local families contacted them with thanks, and children sent cards.
"Seeing the gratitude, that's when it hit us," Casey observed. "This was impactful, and it touched people."
"It was based on the spirit of things, not the money or financial need, but something positive that everyone could be excited about and thankful for, because it was cool and different," Jake added. "Handing out the 97 Milk cards (item #400 at the download area at 97milk.com) with each gallon of whole milk was pretty powerful. We saw people mesmerized, looking at them."
All printable items at 97milk.com have the cost and printer contact information noted. The Joneses ordered on a Friday and had them by mail that Tuesday.
The printer even included some extra cards they made available to local stores interested in putting them out.
"What started as a gesture, opened up a 'conversation' with the education piece," Jake related. "If the public is not educated about whole milk, then all the pushing in the world won't make the choice of whole milk in schools happen."
"We want to keep things happening in this town, and it can happen elsewhere," Casey suggested.
"That's the challenge," Jake added. "If someone picks up the idea into other towns, states, with heavier population. Maybe a few families, a business, a group, take on the Whole Milk Gallon Challenge together and build some interest to get schools and families talking."
Most important, said Jake: "If you are feeling you want to do something but think you can't do enough, just do what you can. If a handful of people each do a little something – together — in a lot of different places, a lot can be accomplished."
His advice? First, contact a local bottler. "Google to find a plant in your area or region. Start there. It was very easy once we talked to the people at Titusville Dairy and Marburgers," Jake advised. "By using a local bottler, the local community gains more bang for your buck in supporting local farms.
"If you are not involved in agriculture and want to do this in your community, ask a local farm where they ship their milk," Jake suggested.
"Many farms have facebook pages, look for one in your area and contact them that way about milk bottlers in the area," Casey added.
Other advice: Call an area food bank or charity ahead of time to have a place for remaining milk. Pre-set the hours to a tighter window, like 11 to 2. Start publicizing 4 to 5 days in advance. And work with your local school district.
"Schools have big parking lots with traffic patterns already in place, and they can help you set up a safe flow of traffic and a way of communicating it to families in the district," Jake said. "Plus, getting the school involved — superintendent, building manager, foodservice — increases awareness and gets them thinking and talking about whole milk."
"It has to be whole milk with the educational component for the long-term impact," said Casey. "Our mindset was to buy the milk and give it away, along with the information."
"Let people know this is as much a gift as an educational thing, and that all are welcome to receive," Jake concluded. "Don't be intimidated by a number, just do what you can.
"We would challenge all of us to do what we can because we can all be doing more."
To contact Jake and Casey Jones for information and advice to do a Whole Milk Gallon Challenge, email them at Jake.t.jones46@gmail.com
May 1, 2020 was 'food heroes' day — a national day to honor school nutrition personnel. In Titusville, Pa., cars had brightly colored signs of thanks for their every day food heroes at the school preparing meals for pickup, and for the milk heroes providing gallons of whole milk to their community.
Posted in agriculture, Dairy, Nutrition, pay it forward, Uncategorized	| Tagged 97 Milk, 97% Fat Free, COVID-19, inspiration, Titusville Dairy, whole milk, whole milk for healthy kids, Whole Milk Gallon Challenge	| 1 Reply
Who is empowering whom? PART ONE: Dairy check-off's GENYOUth thin on milk.


I have tried to update the Bios to solve the loud noise problem on my yoga 910. But after I downloaded the latest Bios (you can get it from here), I can't run it. it said "the version of ROM file is not newer than that of the bios".. what does it mean, how I can solve the loud noise of Yoga 910?
Hi, It is because the bios version you wan to update is the same as what you have on your device.
We are working on a bios update to opitmize the fan noise. May be it will be published on the official website the next week.
I have the same issue with the loud fan. So, downloaded the last BIOS update from December 2016.
Well, for one, make sure you really need the update.
If the fan seems to be running constantly, open Task Manager and see what's hogging the CPU. Specifically look for a line that begins with TODO. If you see that, it's probably the Qualcomm WLAN Installation program that's hung. Seems that program isn't happy with the Win 10 Anniversary update. If it's there, go to the control panel and remove the program. That should tone down the fan, considerably. Or at least until you run an intensive program or hit an involved web page. More detailed information is here. Note that you may need to reinstall the WLAN driver and you may start seeing WLAN warnings in your event viewer. The fix for that is to go to power options, select the plan you're using and then click on advanced. Go to PCI Express - Link State Power Management and change it for Battery and Power to OFF.


Let's get ready for an awesome entertainment and for the biggest DIWALI DHAMAKA -2017 ON 14TH OCTOBER 2017 4 PM ONWARDS @ MacGregor State School.
Book Saturday 14 October from 4pm in your calendar to celebrate Diwali get-together with friends, family and GCQ. Please come to witness the traditions of the most glorious Indian festival.
Diwali Dhamaka is a sincere effort to bring the Indian community together to celebrate the joyous festival of Deepawali with fervor and gaiety. Such melas hold a great importance especially for Hindus living abroad and go a long way to enhance the feeling of harmony amongst Indians away from their homeland.
Diwali Dhamaka are also a great way to showcase Indian culture to the new generation who are away from their roots and help them understand and witness the traditions of the most glorious Indian festival.
Premier Tickets is Australia's leading online event ticketing & marketing solution provider. We act as a channel between the event organizers and end customers helping our clients with hassle free event ticket booking, event marketing & promotion solutions. Contact us for any of your ticketing & marketing needs for DIWALI DHAMAKA -2017 ON 14TH OCTOBER 2017 4 PM ONWARDS @ MacGregor State School.


Mahira is responsible for the smooth operations of the Leeds office and ensuring all fee earners can complete their work efficiently. Prior to joining MRN in November 2016, Mahira studied Beauty Therapy with Science before completing an apprenticeship in business administration in 2012. During her apprenticeship, her manager quickly saw her skill and ability and pushed her to complete her apprenticeship in half the time. Her experience lies in administration, working at Bradford Council for many years as a licencing officer. On a day-to-day basis, Mahira plays an active support role to all fee earners, along with many other duties including preparing invoices, organising the exchange of documents between clients and archiving.
Its fast-paced nature combined with the knowledge that she is helping people do their own jobs efficiently drives Mahira's passion for the role. She excels with her organisation skills and meticulous manner to ensure everything is accomplished timely and correctly.
Outside of the office, Mahira enjoys running, socialising and trying different types of cuisines!


text:
Live: Plaza Ballroom, St Helens
Monday 25 June 1962 Live No Comments
Following their lunchtime show at the Cavern Club, The Beatles travelled to St Helens for their first of five performances at the Plaza Ballroom.
The Plaza was run by Whetstone Entertainment, which also controlled two other ballrooms in the area: Orrell Park in Liverpool and the Riverpark in Chester. It also ran 13 bingo halls in the north west of England.
The Beatles were paid £25 for this appearance. For their final performance at the Plaza, less than a year later on 4 March 1963, they were paid £100.
Live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
2015: Paul McCartney live at Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
2014: Ringo Starr live at Turning Stone Casino, Verona, New York
2013: Paul McCartney live at Arena di Verona, Verona, Italy
1968: Mixing, editing: Revolution 1, Revolution 9
1968: George Harrison produces Jackie Lomax's Sour Milk Sea
1968: Paul McCartney flies from New York to London
1967: The Beatles on Our World: All You Need Is Love
1966: Live: Grugahalle, Essen, Germany
1964: Live: Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand
1963: Live: Astoria Ballroom, Middlesbrough
1961: Live: Top Ten Club, Hamburg
1960: Live: Grosvenor Ballroom, Wallasey

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl