Dairy Council Working To Encourage Students To Eat Lunch

The National Dairy Council was founded by America’s farm families and funded by the National Dairy Checkoff.  Katie Bambact, vice president of nutrition affairs for the National Dairy Council, says the NDC has championed child nutrition for over 100 years.  The Council is partnering with the School Nutrition Association to get more kids in the lunchroom.

“Coming out of COVID, we heard a lot from school nutrition professionals who, by the way, work tirelessly to feed 29 million students every day, but we heard from them that they need help," Bambact said.  "They need help in promoting the importance of school meals in nourishing students and addressing food and nutrition insecurity because, in addition to their daily requirements of putting a meal out for children, they also have to manage the regulatory requirements and often lack the time or expertise to build out a marketing campaign.” 

The two organizations launched a campaign to promote the importance and benefits of school meals and good nutrition for kids.

“A little more than a year ago, SNA, in partnership with NDC, launched the Made with School Lunch Campaign," Bambact said.  "This initiative aims to raise awareness and effectively communicate the positive impacts and benefits of nutrient-rich school meals, including dairy milk and dairy foods. And the campaign emphasizes the long-term benefits of school lunch programs through a warm, engaging message paired with very simple and memorable nutrition facts.

“The central narrative and imagery feature a child alongside an adult who symbolizes their future selves, hinting that they did indeed benefit from school lunch programs," she added.  "The content that we created with SNA highlights dairy foods, such as milk, cheese, and yogurt, along with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats that all make up a nutritious and delicious school lunch. And this information is used to educate administrators, teachers, parents, students, and the broader school community.” 

NDC, Bambact noted, has put together online resources to help school nutrition professionals get the message out about school meals and the importance of nutrition to successful learning.

“We did put a strong emphasis on video content. We know in today's social channels that videos are a big hit with several folks. We want to develop a lot of video content, and we do have a web page where we have all of our campaign assets that are easily downloadable. These assets include social media posts and images. We have posters in English and Spanish, and we also have a flagship video and a series of shorter videos for quicker engagement opportunities. I do encourage folks to check out the website."

Learn more about the program by visiting madewithschoollunch.com.

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