The School Milk Project (TSMP) was founded in 1998 by the Women’s Food and Farming Union with initial funding from the Milk Development Council. TSMP was then absorbed into MDC in Nov 2003

Following a massive review of agricultural levy boards, Defra announced in June 2006 that the five levy boards covering milk, meat, horticulture, potatoes and cereals would be replaced by one – the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in April 2008

The Milk Development Council (MDC) was therefore replaced by DairyCo as the new milk sector company under the AHDB, working on behalf of dairy farmers to provide services not supplied by the industry. DairyCo itself is a not for profit, non commercial organisation.

TSMP continues to be a key activity for DairyCo. There are three main objectives of The School Milk Project (TSMP):

• for children under 16 to acquire the taste for drinking milk
• for children under 16 to acquire the habit for drinking milk daily
• for children under 16 to be educated about the benefits of dairy within a balanced diet

Ongoing research has highlighted that primary children who come on board with drinking milk at school through a TSMP scheme, are drinking an additional 2 glasses of milk a week and continue to consume additional dairy products as they move through secondary school.

TSMP is helping children to understand about the benefits of milk drinking and the role of dairy within the daily diet, which is important as it helps children to make healthier choices and creates a milk-drinking habit for the future. The Project has now recruited over a quarter of a million children in well over 100 Local Education Authorities back on to school milk.