Idaho Dairy Products Commission

Dear Idaho Dairy Farm Families, With farm-level milk prices down by more than 50 percent from last summer, we, as dairy farmers, are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Dairy exports have decreased, U.S. consumers are eating out less and feed prices have risen.

Rest assured that the Board of Directors of United Dairymen of Idaho, who are dairy producers representing Idaho’s dairy farm families, are continually working on your behalf to ensure that your checkoff programs managed through United Dairymen of Idaho and at the national level, Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI) benefit the industry.

The dairy checkoff has taken immediate actions to help increase demand and sales of U.S. dairy products in these difficult economic times. Beginning late last year, Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) have adjusted more than $25 million to further focus on immediate and longer term sales impacting efforts. Remaining true to the long-term strategies of working with and through the industry to extend the producer's investment,
click here for an overview of some of these activities.

Telling Your Story — A program designed to help Idaho producers put a face on the industry in their communities.

Child Nutrition and Fitness Initiative — A producer funded initiative to combat the childhood obesity crisis and encourage lifelong consumers of dairy.

The Value of Telling Your Story

UDI and dairy checkoff organizations across the U.S. have launched the new producer image training program, "Telling Your Story." The program offers producers training in public relations, presentations and media interviews. Through the training, producers learn techniques to communicate with their neighbors and communities, and receive materials and assistance to communicate with the public about on-farm issues such as animal care, the environment, and milk quality and safety.

Your dairy promotion investment works to help protect and promote dairy's image. This includes offering dairy producer training and support materials, reaching the public through www.dairyfarmingtoday.org and monitoring issues and responding to media and consumer requests around-the-clock, and providing an issues-based website for dairy producers at www.dairyresponse.com.

There's an old saying you may have heard before..."good fences make good neighbors." While that might have been true 50 years ago, today — with less than 2 percent of the U.S. population involved in agriculture — dairy producers must be more proactive in building good relationships with their neighbors.

United Dairymen of Idaho recognizes the importance of building relationships with your neighbors and community members. Contact Cheri Storey at cstorey@udidaho.org or 208-327-7050 to schedule a TYS training for your dairy.

Maybe it's time for a new saying: "Good community outreach makes good neighbors."

 

The Child Nutrition and Fitness Initiative (CNFI):
Our Checkoff Dollars at Work in Schools

Updated 12/2/2008 | Download a PDF version of this report to print

WE ARE TACKLING THE CHILD HEALTH CRISIS

Childhood obesity has become a crisis for America’s youth, many of whom are overweight and undernourished. Thirty-two percent of American youth are now overweight, and 70 percent of those will become overweight adults. 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.

The National Dairy Council (NDC) has teamed up with the National Football League (NFL) to launch the Child Nutrition and Fitness Initiative (CNFI) — a five-year health and wellness program in America’s schools. Dairy producers initiated CNFI to encourage fitness and good nutrition, including dairy consumption, among millions of young Americans in schools.

The program encourages kids to eat "Food Groups to Encourage" (low-fat and fat-free milk and milk products, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains), and get 60 minutes of physical activity every day, as outlined in the government's 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The program will reach 40,000 schools this school year.

In addition, in enhanced school programs being tested in 11 pilot markets, CNFI is engaging youth directly by inviting and rewarding them for "making a difference" in their schools and communities; by improving access to healthy food options; and encouraging their peers to adopt healthy habits.

WE ARE ENCOURAGING HEALTHY, LIFELONG DAIRY CONSUMERS

Research shows that dairy consumption habits formed during childhood are likely to carry over into adult years — a habit that contributes to lifelong health. CNFI encourages healthy eating, including lifelong dairy consumption.

  • Overall, children are not getting enough dairy to meet their dietary needs. Research has shown that 90 percent of girls and 70 percent of boys do not consume the recommended 3 daily servings of dairy. According to the U.S. government, dairy products contain three of the five essential nutrients that children are under-consuming in their diets.

  • School programs account for significant volume of children’s dairy consumption. CNFI helps assure that nutrient-rich milk and milk products, along with fruits, vegetables and whole grains, are well positioned to help children meet their nutrition needs.

  • CNFI builds on existing programs — including New Look of School Milk (NLSM), Expanding Breakfast and 3-A-Day™ of Dairy — educating children on the benefits of consuming milk and dairy products as part of a healthy diet, and broadens the message to encourage physical activity.


WE ARE ENGAGING CHILDREN WITH FUEL UP TO PLAY™

To ensure that CNFI succeeds in schools, we have developed strategies that will get youth and adult stakeholders excited to participate. In partnership with the NFL, we have conducted extensive research with our target audiences (5th – 8th graders and adult school stakeholders) to develop a program, including its name and a visual approach that projects the initiative’s energy.

More than just a name, “Fuel Up to Play™” conveys both healthy eating and physical activity to youth. Fuel Up to Play™ will be launched in 11 pilot markets in January 2009 and rolled out nationally in the 2009–2010 school year.

Fuel Up to Play™ is built around motivating youth to take action for themselves and their peers in schools, and offers tools, resources, school grants and individual awards for producing results.

WE ARE BRINGING PARTNERS ON BOARD

NDC is committing $250 million over five years to the CNFI effort. This amount reflects funds being invested in staff resources, the development and implementation of CNFI programs in schools, dairy product innovation, research on child wellness, and support for child nutrition organizations, including Action for Healthy Kids. NDC is teaming up with the NFL because they provide star power and excitement, and physical fitness expertise for the school-based program.

Through this investment of resources and our overall leadership, we are attracting important partners to promote child wellness efforts through CNFI. We are working with Action for Healthy Kids, the School Nutrition Association and other leading children’s health organizations to support CNFI programs in schools. And because CNFI provides a broader platform of promoting physical activity and healthy eating, the program will expand to include other partner organizations and businesses that also are committed to improving children’s health and wellness to maximize our reach and impact.

Through CNFI, dairy producers are helping ensure young people have the nutritious foods they need as they form lifelong healthy eating habits. With your support, we will advance this effort to improve the health and wellness of America’s youth. What’s good for childhood nutrition is good for dairy.

 
For Our Producers