UNITED DAIRY INDUSTRY OF MICHIGAN
CLASSROOMS “ADOPT A COW” FOR SCHOOL In a new partnership with the Center for Dairy Excellence, ADAI is supporting 1,942 classroom and homeschool connections through a sponsorship to get a cow in the classroom. Classes are sent a photo and profile of a dairy calf in their state as they follow through her daily life, learning about dairy farming and foods. Teachers receive resources for lesson planning and monthly events to incorporate into the program, growing interest and trust in dairy farming from a young age.
DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS - MEETING CONSUMERS ONLINE During Q1 at UDIM we continue to use targeted digital marketing to share dairy messages with consumers who are searching for specific information. With the continued interest in at-home workouts we are delivering plants + dairy and milk nutrition messages digitally, targeting health and wellness-minded adults. They will see ads on related fitness apps and websites and are specifically targeted if they have recently purchased workout equipment. Another digital campaign is aligned with MilkPep’s new “But First, Milk” initiative. They have identified breakfast meal as the biggest opportunity to increase milk consumption. The messaging hits on milk’s nutrition for young children and reminds parents that milk is the perfect beverage for kids to start the day off right. We targeted parents of school-aged children and look for our social media posts to reinforce the message.
HYBRID APPROACH TO UDIM DIETETIC INTERN TRAINING PROGRAMS
YOUTH WELLNESS NUTRITION EDUCATION PROJECT
ENGAGING ADVOCATES AT MSU DAIRY CLUB
UDIM connected with dietetic education programs through a hybrid approach of cooking demonstration training, using online video training to provide the education component and small group COVID-19-compliant hands-on activities.
Partnering with Young Minds Inspired, the nation’s leading provider of free educational outreach programs, both UDIM and ADAI developed five new classroom curriculum pieces for Michigan and Indiana teachers. The Michigan content focused on milk from farm to table for grades 2-4. Indiana focused on grades K-3 with new lesson plans on healthy eating and the importance of breakfast.
In January the UDIM team hosted a virtual communication workshop for the MSU Dairy Club. During the workshop, we shared consumer research about sustainability, reviewed sustainability messages, asked them to “annotate” on the slide to show which messages they felt most comfortable talking through and discussed techniques for difficult conversations. The students practiced the messages in virtual breakout rooms, receiving feedback from the trainers. The workshop ended with the students indicating how they will tell the sustainability story.
We trained 24 dietetic interns from Eastern Michigan University and Beaumont Healthcare programs, highlighting the important and irreplaceable role that dairy plays in a healthy and sustainable diet. The hands-on demo training portion helps to educate interns on topics such as how dairy enhances nutrition in plant forward diets and affordable highquality protein for healthy meals on a budget. Through our Grocery Store Tour training virtual program interns learn tips for healthy shopping in all areas of the grocery store, including facts on dairy’s superior nutrition when compared to alternative milk beverages.
From both teaching kits, students will learn why dairy is an important part of a balanced diet, how milk goes from local farms to their kitchen table, and how dairy farmers use technology, science and sustainable practices to help keep their cows healthy and protect the environment. Each ki adheres to academic standards and includes a teacher’s guide, activities and poster. Find the new curriculum pieces online: MICHIGAN: HTTPS://YMICLASSROOM.COM/ LESSON-PLANS/MILKMEANSMORE/ INDIANA: HTTPS://YMICLASSROOM.COM/ LESSON-PLANS/ADAI/
In the survey they were asked how they would answer when asked about dairy sustainability, here is one example:
“Farmers strive to be sustainable, they recycle water, recycle manure, and care about how much they tend the land whether it would be plowing fields, rotating crops, and how they fertilize fields.” milk messenger / MAR-APR 2021
27
