1. New England Dairy & Food Council New England Dairy Promotion Board
Heidi Harkopf CT School & Health & Wellness Programs
Jenny Karl
VP, Marketing & Communications
Jenny - Overview of who we are and the work we do on behalf of dairy farmers in their communities.
January 3, 2017

2. 1929 Nutrition Education Program 1940 White House Conference
Dr. EV McCollum
1929 Nutrition Education Program
Jenny
Dairy farmers have a 100 year history of both scientific research and helping to get those research benefits into the public via nutrition education.
Funding ground breaking research of EV McCollum which revealed the importance of milk and milk products
A 1929 nutrition education program which educate students on healthy eating
Participating in the 1940 White House Conference on Children and Youth
Developing the first food guidance system – the Guide to Good Eating – which pre-dated the USDA system (the Basic Seven Food Chart) by 2 years
Creating Big Ideas – the 1971 comprehensive nutrition education program for grade school students
1940 White House Conference
on Children and Youth
1941 Guide to Good Eating
1971 Big Ideas

3. Helping CT Youth Fuel Greatness!
Heidi
Helping our youth lead healthier lives is just in the farmer DNA so it is natural that they would continue this legacy in schools today.
Therefore, I would like to introduce to you FUTP60.
Fuel Up to Play 60 is an in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by National Dairy Council and the NFL with support from USDA. The program is designed to completely customizable and provide support, in the form of funding, creative ideas, technical assistance and education resources to help schools focus on making sustainable changes that improve the health of the students and the community.
The goals of FUTP60 are
1.) To promote student awareness of the importance of healthy eating and increased physical activity
2.) To give students more opportunities to make healthy choices including:
better access to nutrient rich foods, like low-fat/fat-free dairy, fruits, vegetables, whole grains
additional physical activity time- before, during and after school
3.) To empower students to lead these changes
Fuel Up with Nutrient-Rich Foods
Get Up & Play at least 60 Minutes Day

4. Funding for School Wellness
$76,939 provided in 2016
Heidi
To help schools make lasting changes farmers provide up to $4,000 per school via grants to make lasting changes in the nutrition and physical activity areas. In 2016 CT farmers provided over $76,000 to CT schools.
Some examples of how these funds are used include equipment that improves the food choices in school meal programs. For example, we provide the equipment necessary to increase fruit and dairy consumption through yogurt parfaits or smoothies. We also help start or expand school bkfast programs so that more students start their day ready to learn. Research shows that breakfast is a critical piece in the learning process..
We also help increase physical activity opportunities through funds that put equipment in place to get more kids moving at recess, or in gym class and even during classroom times/indoor recess.

5. Smoothie Success in East Hartford
Anna E. Norris Elementary School
Started November 2015
Breakfast participation increased 27% overall
4 new schools for fall 2016
Heidi
I would like to give you an example of how impactful these funds are. The Anna E. Norris school in East Hartford used dairy farmer funds in 2015 to implement a smoothie program at bkfast time. When they saw how many more kids were eating bkfast as a result of smoothies, they implemented the program in 4 other schools in the district in 2016! With a full serving of produce and dairy, these kids are ready to learn!

6. Student Leaders
Heidi
And central to the FUTP60 program is student leadership. When youth lead the way, other youth follow.
To invest in our students, farmers support student leadership training both through a regional summit held at Gillette Stadium and through a National Summit held in Indiana this year. These students also learn communication and marketing skills so that they can help actively implement the sustainable changes in their schools. While at these leadership trainings students also have the opportunity to hear from dairy farmers, football players and other key leaders giving them a chance to see what true collaboration looks like.

7. Education Materials for Schools
Heidi
And to reach a wider school audience, we also send out resources to schools such as these educational posters, so that students can learn how to make wise food choices in the cafeteria. We ship posters to schools enrolled in FUTP60 which is about ¾ of all schools in our state (need to check this number out). These free of charge resources are highly valued by our schools and they look forward to receiving new ones each year.

8. Summer Meals 2016 Promotion Events Grant Funding East Hartford
Branford
New Haven
Grant Funding
Montville
Groton
New London
Heidi
But when you consider how important school meals are, contemplate for a moment what happens during the 10 week summer break for those students who might be living with food insecurity.
Knowing that good nutrition is vital to learning, many organizations recognize that good nutrition during the summer will also fuel learning in September. Summer meals are similar to school breakfast and lunch but served when school is out of session. Only 25% of kids who qualify for free or reduced school meals during the school year, access the summer meals program. To help close this gap dairy farmers have funded tools to increase participation in the program. This year we provided ($9,000) funding to summer meal programs with equipment such as coolers, and eye catching wraps on existing delivery vehicles. We have also provided activities at some of the sites during the kick off period to help spread the awareness of this program. When more children eat summer meals, we help develop the future generation that will lead this county.

9. Dairy Farm to School Heidi
With increasing consumer interest in sustainable farm practices, we work to help students not only understand that milk goes from farm to fridge in about 2 days, and that the milk they enjoy at school is from our region, but we help to educate them on how farmers care for the land and animals. While we would love to bring a farmer to every school (as you see here with Melissa Dziurgot at the John Barry school in Meriden), that just isn’t possible so we also create videos.
In 2016 we also created a video of Patriots player Devin McCourty touring River Plain Dairy in Lebanon with the Cone family. This video captures Devin learning how farmers care for their land and animals and can be used in schools and with consumers. It is another way for us to show CT residents the value that dairy farmers bring to our state both in caring for the beauty of our land, providing local food, and helping to create a great wellness environment in schools through FUTP60.

10. Partnerships
Heidi
I have shared with you work we do in the schools, but throughout our 100 year legacy and even today, farmers are also known for being conveners. We bring together researchers, medical professionals, and community outreach professionals so that information can be shared and exchanged in order to benefit the consumer.
Just some samples of activities from 2016 are that we connected experts to speak at conferences such as family physicians and school nutrition professionals. The picture you see here is a gathering of key thought leaders from CT and throughout New England that we bring together each year for a day of brainstorming. We tackle topics such as food insecurity, sustainable farming, and food waste. This not only helps guide our work, but provides an environment where key leaders can exchange ideas to take back to their own worksites.

11. Reaching consumers through TV and radio
WFSB
WTNH
WTIC Fox
WNPR Radio
VIDEO
Heidi
And in order to reach the broadest audience possible with great nutrition information, as a registered dietitian I have provided 9 interviews with CT television stations by sharing nutrition and cooking tips. In addition, we provided information on how farmers contribute to our communities via a 13 week sponsorship at WNPR. In all of our media work, we aim to educate the consumer with science based information and showcase how our CT farmers are a vital part of our communities.
We also share information through our social media channels, FB, Twitter and Instagram. Each channel reaches a different audience enabling us to share new health related research as well as share the activities of farmers in their communities.

12. Thank you
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share out of few of the ways of how the Dairy Farm Families of CT support the residents of CT.