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Dairy Farmer’s Fuel Up To Play 60 Program Targets Newark, NJ Students

Preventing childhood obesity has taken center stage in national news with Michele Obama’s recent press conference Dairy Farmers Promote announcing the “Let’s Move” campaign, and the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council and the Jets have partnered to tackle the issue locally with dairy producers’ Fuel up to Play 60 program.

Last week, 90 middle-school students from Newark public schools first “fueled up” with a healthy breakfast, including milk, while they listened to Jets’ renowned nutrition consultant Tom Bilella talk about good nutrition habits for teens and got a lesson on healthy beverages. During the second hour of the program, students “played 60” on the indoor practice field with Jets’ running back Shonn Greene.

New Jersey’s largest daily newspaper, the Star Ledger, covered the event and ran four photos in the paper the next day. They also created a video story on nj.com (http://videos.nj.com/star-ledger/2010/03/jets_battle_childhood_obesity.html). NBC TV and CBS TV ran stories on the event that evening.

Childhood obesity has become a crisis for America’s youth, many of whom are overweight and undernourished. Dairy producers—who have made a long-standing investment in children through their checkoff investment—are leaders in the effort to address this troubling trend and ensure kids have access to the nutritious foods they need, such as dairy.

“Fuel Up to Play 60 builds on existing producer-funded school nutrition programs, including the New Look of School Milk and expanded breakfast efforts,” say Andrea Thompson, Vice President of School Marketing for the Dairy Association “ This initiative broadens the message to educate children on the benefits of consuming milk and dairy foods, while promoting the need for 60 daily minutes of physical activity, to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

ADADC, Wegmans Supermarkets Kicks Off Program To Connect Dairy Farmers With Shoppers

Many supermarket chains use seasonal fruits and veggies as a draw for consumers looking to support local farmers. Now, one of the biggest chains in the Northeast is Local Dairy Farmers directing attention to one of the few products that is produced locally year round—namely, milk and other dairy foods. “Celebrating America’s Dairy Farmers” officially kicked off last week in Buffalo, NY, at the McKinley Wegmans.

To develop the program, Wegmans worked with Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, Pennsylvania center for Dairy Excellence, American Dairy Association and Dairy council, Inc., as well as several milk and dairy product processors.

In-store displays and signage will identify locally-produced dairy products and several dairy farmers throughout the Western NY area and will be featured in the spring Issue of Wegmans Menu magazine.

“To have a leading retailer like Wegmans promote the fact that dairy is a locally-produced product is a huge boost to farmers,” according to Rick Naczi, ADADC CEO. “As dairy farmers continue to struggle with some of the lowest prices in history, having an influential chain like Wegmans educating their shoppers that buying dairy supports the farms in their regions can only help dairy product sales.”

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