5th World School Milk Day

Citation

(2005), "5th World School Milk Day", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 35 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2005.01735dab.012

5th World School Milk Day

World School Milk Day (last Wednesday in September, i.e. 28 September in 2005)

5th World School Milk Day – 29 September 2004

Milk for all – with this slogan Sri Lanka joined the World School Milk Day celebrations in 2004 for the first time. As part of the celebrations, school children in a rural area received free supplies of milk. On the other side of the globe, Finnish school children completed a personality test on the National Dairy Council's internet site and were provided with personalised milk shake recipes. These were just two examples of the diverse geographical and cultural background of countries celebrating this day.

Every last Wednesday in September, over 30 countries – regardless of whether they are large or small, rich or poor – celebrate World School Milk Day, demonstrating that the interest in school milk is universal.

The 1st World School Milk Day was held in 2000 and it has since become an annual event, promoted actively by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.

Everyone is free to choose how to celebrate World School Milk Day. Celebrations can be at any level – from national or regional events to individual schools. Some countries have started in a small way and have organised bigger celebrations with each passing year. Big or small, all have a common goal: to draw attention to school milk and thereby promote its consumption.

What kinds of celebrations are held? In almost all countries free milk is distributed to children in schools. Other activities include sporting events, distribution of educational and promotional material and celebrity visits to schools. In Costa Rica, for example, over a thousand children welcomed Olympic champion Sylvia Poll, who took part in a school sports day. While on another continent, the Chinese school milk mascot, Yili, visited schools and emphasised the link between milk and health.

Often, dairy companies act as sponsors of the day and provide not only free milk but also promotional material such as tee shirts, caps, pens and rulers for the children. Posters, booklets and games are also produced for use by teachers in the classroom.

As in previous years, drawing and art competitions were very popular. In Canada for example, elementary students participated in a School Milk Day poster contest with the winning contribution being printed and distributed to elementary schools across the country. Similarly in Oman, a drawing competition on the theme of school milk was organized in all state schools.

In Australia, pupils were invited to enter a nation-wide Milk's Cool for School cartoon competition. The winning designs will appear on school milk cartons.

France held celebrations on the theme of Milk and Sports. Linked to these celebrations, a school milk height chart was produced in collaboration with FAO. The height chart was distributed to school cafeterias throughout the country.

In Pakistan, children were asked to bring an empty milk carton to school to draw attention to the problem of recycling.

Similarly in Indonesia, empty school milk boxes and straws were used to create craft items.

The internet plays a growing role in the promotion of World School Milk Day. Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and the UK were amongst the countries that featured competitions, interactive games and background information on World School Milk Day on their websites.

In conjunction with World School Milk Day many countries organise meetings and conferences to discuss the importance of milk consumption for growing children, the development of school milk programmes and related topics.

Campaigns and initiatives related to World School Milk Day received wide media coverage, showing the potential interest in school milk and illustrating the huge effort made by the organizers in the various countries in making the day an unforgettable event for children and adults.

FAO operates a free email discussion group on school milk issues. To join, or if your country, region, area or school is interested in celebrating World School Milk Day in 2005, please contact: school-milk-owner@fao.org