Find Your Local Dairy Council®

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Interested in the New Look of School Milk, but not sure how to go about evaluating it for your program?

Your local Dairy Council® has the expertise and tools to help you explore the possibilities of offering students an enhanced milk program. Being directly in your area fortifies them with the background and specifics on what local processors have to offer and what other school districts are doing. It enables them to effectively provide guidance in your efforts to improve milk consumption and sales and even boost meal participation!

Local Dairy Councils Help Pave the Way

Across the country, local Dairy Councils have been instrumental in providing districts with assistance in getting the New Look of School Milk. An example of valuable Dairy Council involvement is noted by Brent Craig, former director of foodservice for St. Vrain Valley School District, Longmont, Colo., currently director of nutrition services, for Douglas County School District, Castle Rock, Colo., who worked with Western Dairy Association. According to Craig, "I think the first step in getting the New Look of School Milk is to use the Dairy Council. There are a lot of resources that they have to offer through research, marketing, materials, just many, many resources. Their guidance had a direct effect on helping us establish a successful program that led to an increase of 27 percent in milk sales and increased breakfast and lunch participation. We found a great partnership with the Western Dairy Association."

"New Look" Tools

Here are just a few of the resources your local Dairy Council representative can offer:

• New Look of School Milk Benefits and Results – From the initial School Milk Pilot, to the "New Look" FAQs, to the 9,500 schools who are successfully serving the "New Look," there is a great deal of documentation that the "New Look" works! Your local Dairy Council can provide you with that information specifically geared to the needs of your district.
• New Look of School Milk Financial Calculator – This tool helps examine the approximate additional cost for serving milk in plastic bottles instead of paperboard cartons and if increased federal reimbursements from a rise in meal participation may be enough to offset it. If not, the calculator and local Dairy Council rep will provide you with other options to help balance the cost.
• Bidding Milk in Plastic Bottles procurement tips and sample bid language – If you are interested in the New Look of School Milk you will need to investigate getting milk in plastic bottles from your area dairy processors.
• Drink It Then Sink It! Recycling Program – The plastic bottles used for the New Look of School Milk are recyclable. And they often are the one item that can create the "critical mass" needed to have a recycling company work with your district at little or no cost.

Continuing Dialog with Processors

Even if you have explored getting milk in plastic bottles before for your school nutrition program, it is important to continue your discussions with your dairy processors and let them know you are interested. Contact your local Dairy Council today to find out what's new in your area.