Latest news from the School Milk Project

Think Food and Farming is the exciting legacy project building on the successes of the Year of Food and Farming. So much has been achieved, particularly at a regional level, that we want to continue to promote these vibrant activities and links which are helping children and young people to understand more about where our food comes from and to involve them in memorable first hand learning experiences.

We hope schools will continue to take part in growing and cooking activities and visits to farms for the opportunity to:

• Find out how food is grown and produced

• Explore why food, and how we produce it, matters

• Make informed choices about food and healthy nutrition

• Discover what happens on a real-life farm

• Experience what the countryside can offer

• Learn more about environmental issues linked to food and the countryside

Think Food and Farming activities and resources will promote curriculum teaching and other memorable hands-on learning experiences. Taking part will help schools achieve the Healthy Schools Standard, Eco Schools status and also supports the Learning Outside the Classroom manifesto. Partner organisations will provide memorable opportunities to engage young people of all ages in many parts of the curriculum including PSHE, Science, Design and Technology and Geography.
For more information visit www.thinkfoodandfarming.org.uk

Enjoy One of Your 3-A-Day of Dairy in Your Lunchbox
National Lunchbox Week is the 1-5 September 

As National Lunchbox Week approaches, The Dairy Council is reminding us to boost our calcium intake by including dairy at lunchtime. The most recent National Diet and Nutrition Survey found that many young people have inadequate intakes of calcium. So to meet our needs for calcium, The Dairy Council recommends three servings of dairy each day (3-A-Day).

Dr Judith Bryans, Director of The Dairy Council and Registered Nutritionist, said: “Dairy foods are the greatest providers of calcium in the UK diet, and consuming three portions of dairy a day (3-A-Day) is the easiest way to meet the recommended levels of calcium. By including at least one of those portions in your lunchbox you’ll be on your way to 3-A-Day.”

Milk, cheese and yogurt are the main types of dairy foods in the UK diet, and they are all good sources of calcium, which is needed for:

• bones and teeth
• nerve and muscle function
• blood clotting
• cell membrane permeability
• release of hormones
• blood pressure and enzymes

The recommended portion size depends on the Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) of calcium for each age group. Although teenagers need a little more calcium than other age groups, the RNI of calcium for adults is 700mg/day and the recommended portion sizes to achieve this are:

• 200ml glass of semi-skimmed milk - provides 247mg of calcium
• 150g pot of low-fat yogurt - provides 243mg of calcium
• 30g (matchbox size) of hard cheese - provides 222mg of calcium

There are also many other ways to include dairy in your lunchbox; here are some tasty suggestions:

• Milk in a thermos or a small carton (flavoured milks may be more attractive for kids)
• Pot of yogurt
• Fromage frais
• Rice pudding
• Matchbox sized piece of cheese
• Cheese cubes with crackers
• Leftover macaroni cheese
• Bagel with cream cheese
• Pasta salad with cheese
• Slice of pizza
• Custard
• Cheese sandwich

To find out more about your daily calcium requirements, and how to meet them by getting your 3-A-Day, visit The Dairy Council’s website www.milk.co.uk.

Changes to the EU School Milk Scheme in England

From 1 August, all secondary schools will be eligible to participate in the EU School Milk Scheme, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced today.

In England, the EU subsidy will be offered to parents on plain and flavoured milk and plain yoghurt in both primary and secondary schools.

The Government will also top up the EU subsidy which is paid to claimants in English primary schools.  The top up will not be offered to claimants in secondary schools at this stage.

Defra will carry out a consultation in the autumn about the range of products offered as part of the scheme in future and on options for the national top up in England.

Further information is available here.

Get on your bike to a healthier lifestyle at the Royal Highland Show

The Scottish Dairy Marketing Company (SDMC) took a rather literal approach to getting Scottish families moving towards a healthier lifestyle with their stand at the Royal Highland Show.

The SDMC took this year’s ‘All Walks of Life’ theme one step further by introducing a smoothie-making bicycle to the show’s Education Centre. Visitors were encouraged to get stuck into making tasty refreshments by milking Mabel the cow and mixing a fresh fruit smoothie with some energetic peddling on the specially designed bicycle-blender!

The new activity was a fun way to allow children and families to experiment with dairy products and different ways of drinking milk. Visitors to the stand were able to make fresh strawberry and banana smoothies a delicious way to include sufficient calcium in an everyday diet and maintain good bone health.

The Chairman of The Scottish Dairy Marketing Company said: “Appearing at the Royal Highland Show for the fourth time, the Scottish Dairy Marketing Company was pleased to see this new feature within the extremely successful ‘Milk Moustache’ campaign.

“Our work with the Royal Highland Education Centre has been a valuable part of the campaign, allowing us to reach an all-important audience of families and children. The aim of the smoothie bike was to get people involved, showing children that healthy drinks can be fun whilst educating parents about recommended levels of calcium intake*.”

This year there was also a new helper on hand, com’moo’nicating facts and trivia on milk and dairy.  Cybercoo - an electronic pet that children can download to their computer - was unveiled at the show. Available from the revamped www.milkmoustache.com website, Cybercoo needs feeding, milking and care from her owner and in return provides facts on nutrition as well as the latest celebrity gossip.

Children were able to try the bike as part of school visits throughout Thursday and Friday, whilst everyone else was invited to take part during the public show days on the Saturday and Sunday. Fun was had by all.

Click here to download the Strawberry & Banana smoothie recipe.

World School Milk Day
This year World School Milk Day will be celebrated on Wednesday 24 September 2008.

The 1st World School Milk Day was held in 2000 and it has since become an annual event  Every last Wednesday in September, over 30 countries - regardless of whether they are large or small, rich or poor - celebrate World School Milk Day, demonstrating that the interest in school milk is universal. 

The goal of World School Milk Day is to provide a particular day when attention is focused on this issue and thereby promote such programmes. Importance is lent to the event by the fact that other countries are doing the same thing, on the same day.

How is World School Milk Day celebrated? World School Milk Day is an "open" day - people are free to celebrate how they wish.  Celebrations can be at any level - from national or regional events to individual schools.  Some countries have started in a small way and have organised bigger celebrations with each passing year. Big or small, all have a common goal: to draw attention to school milk and thereby promote its consumption.

Celebrations of past years showed how creative people are in celebrating World School Milk Day.  In almost all countries celebrating the Day, free milk is distributed to children in schools. Other activities include sporting events, distribution of educational and promotional material and celebrity visits to schools; also drawing and art competitions are very popular. Often dairy companies act as sponsors of the Day and provide not only free milk but also promotional material such as t-shirts, caps, pens, posters, etc. for the children.  

For advice and information on how to set up a scheme please refer to information provided on this site or give us a call on 0870 241 2693

For further infromation you can download/read the Dairy Innovation newsletter about World School Milk day by clicking here (PDF).

Summer cooking
With summer in the air, now is a great time to undertake some cooking with your class.

Why not get your children to design and make different dishes based on these recipes? 

How about planning a special event such as a class picnic and allowing the children to plan and prepare the food?  Why not get the children to think about healthy eating and get them to develop and make a healthy sandwich or snack? 

Food is a great medium for subjects right across the curriculum so why not check out the recipes and get cooking today?  Go to: http://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk