New York dairy farmers Kelly Reynolds from Reyncrest Farm in Corfu, and Rob DiCarlo from Fa-Ba Farm in Canandaigua, along with New York Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball joined American Dairy Association North East’s Farm to Table Summit to talk with school nutrition professionals from nearly 50 school districts about dairy in farm to school programs and school meals.
Objectives of the summit were to provide the professionals with resources to support existing farm to school programs to include dairy education, focusing on dairy’s local availability 365 days a year and the essential nutrient package it provides to school meals. They were also provided tools and techniques to promote and successfully market their school nutrition programs to students, specifically Gen Z.
Participants were encouraged to submit a plan to make a commitment to include more dairy in school menus and to promote dairy as a component in their farm to school efforts.
“Building relationships with school nutrition experts helps secure and protect dairy’s place in school meals which gives students the nutritional boost to succeed,” said ADA North East CEO John Chrisman. “Everyone wins when dairy is readily accessible for school-aged children for breakfast and lunch.”
Farm to school programs are rising in popularity across the country, and encourage students to fill their breakfast and lunch trays with locally-sourced foods like milk, cheese, yogurt, fruits and vegetables. Many programs also include classroom curriculums that help students learn more about where their food comes from. Lessons can include taste tests, virtual farm tours, field trips to farms, and farmers visiting schools.
“More and more, consumers want to know where their food comes from, and our dairy educational programs fit perfectly with those consumer demands,” said Chrisman. “This goes a long way in building trust in dairy – and developing life-long dairy consumers.”
Reynolds and DiCarlo served on a panel to help make the dairy farmer connection and to showcase ADA North East’s dairy education programs, specifically our Virtual Farm Tour program that has drawn more than 550,000 viewers since 2018.
Reynolds, who previously hosted one of our Virtual Farm Tours, recognized the importance of dairy farmers being involved in this farm to school summit, saying, “It’s really good to connect to those who are serving our products to students across New York.”
DiCarlo agreed, adding, “It’s important that they hear from the people who are producing the food and they can ask us real questions and get real answers about dairy.”
Source: morningagclips.com
Photo Credit: Farm to School
Categories: New York, Crops, Fruits and Vegetables, Livestock, Dairy Cattle