What World Milk Day means
Another World Milk Day has been and gone on 1 June, and a large selection of celebrations were underway globally, ranging from sports to schools. In India, the NDDB Foundation for Nutrition (NFN) has started distributing ready to drink fortified flavoured milk in government schools sourced from dairy cooperatives to school children with the help of donations received from companies.
As a part of the celebration, NFN distributed flavoured milk in a Zilla Parishad School, Medchal district of Telangana state. An awareness program was also organised on the benefits of regular consumption of milk for the children.
In China, Tony Chai, school milk manager from Tetra Pak China, notes, “A Special Activity, as part of Yili Nutrition 2020, targeted poverty alleviation with a public welfare project by Yili Group. It was successfully held in the West Ulan Bu Lang School in Wuchuan County, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Yili Group had transferred RMB21 million (€2.8m) of school milk and learning supplies to the China Red Cross Foundation, which will be used in 130 cities and counties from 25 provinces such as Yushu of Qinghai, Liangshan of Sichuan, Lantian of Shaanxi and Xibaipo of Hebei, where the Yili project has targeted for its poverty alleviation project.”
Meanwhile, in the UK, sports stars came out to support dairy on the day. The UK Dairy Council partnered with five of Britain’s top sports people with an initiative to ‘Make Milk Your Goal’ which celebrates the nutritional merits of milk and its important role in athletes’ diets. Olympians such as hockey player Sam Quek MBE, gymnast Nile Wilson and track and field athlete Perri Shakes-Drayton shared their own World Milk Day messages on Twitter alongside The Dairy Council, raising a glass of milk and encouraging everyone to ‘Make Milk Your Goal’ when it comes to training and recovering from exercise.
World Milk Day, which is now in its 18th year, was founded by the United Nations’ FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organisation). Over 80 countries participate worldwide, joining together to celebrate the nutritional benefits of milk.
