November 2010 Highlights « Back

Fuel Up to Play 60 in South Dakota

South Dakota has 342 enrollments by schools in the Fuel Up to Play 60 program since September 2010, beyond our goal of 329.This means South Dakota has 63 percent of its schools enrolled in dairy checkoff’s program with the NFL designed to fight childhood obesity.  The reach is 139,892 students.

Our work now is focused on activation of these schools to apply the variety of things a school can do to improve its nutrition and physical activity for students.  We’re identifying a program advisor in each school who assists the student team in carrying out healthy eating and physical activity “plays.” We’re also very interested in South Dakota schools implementing breakfast programs, and introducing new food items on lunch menus, a la carte lines and vending choices.   Each of these efforts helps to increase dairy sales.

We will be interested in incorporating dairy producers into some of these events at the schools so look forward to having some volunteers to participate in some of the Fuel Up to Play activities that will be scheduled.

Other South Dakota Updates

Midwest Dairy will have a presence at the Nike Cross Nationals Heartland Regional Cross Country Championships later this month. Refuel with Chocolate Milk drawstring bags, along with information on the benefits of dairy in the diet, will be distributed to more than 500 athletes, coaches and parents. We are working to secure a speaker from the Whey Protein Advisory Board for a presentation at the pre-meet dinner on Nov. 13. Dean Foods/Land O’Lakes will also be providing chocolate milk at the finish line of the regional meet.  Individuals competing are hoping to qualify for the national meet to be held in Portland, Oregon.

South Dakota’s Farmers Feed US sweepstakes is drawing to a close, after three months where consumers could meet a farmer on the website and register for free groceries for a year.  More than 26,000 registrations were received in the first two months of the program, with more than 2,500 of those registering opting in to receive further information from South Dakota’s producers.  The state’s agriculture commodity groups, including Midwest Dairy, came together for this campaign, with Ag United as the organizer. Expect to see an announcement and media coverage of the sweepstakes winners soon.