In fact, many choose to go hungry rather than be seen entering the cafeteria to start their day with a healthy meal, while bus schedules often don’t allow others time to stop before the first bell. These issues help create an obstacle to youth wellness, as years of research highlights that eating breakfast is linked with improved academic performance, student behavior, school attendance and nutrition intake.
As someone who has spent my entire career promoting the importance of good nutrition and essential role of dairy, I am proud of how GENYOUth is working to offer students – particularly those who are dependent on school meals for a significant part of their daily nutrition – an innovative method to deliver a morning meal that nourishes their bodies and minds.
The “Grab-and-Go” system has been a core tool of GENYOUth’s mission to end student hunger for many years. In fact, our work with the support of the dairy checkoff and other corporate partners has led to us installing more than 550 Grab-and-Go systems in schools nationwide since 2017, meaning more kids are consuming nutritious meals, including milk and dairy.
The system, which includes a rolling cart and a cooler for cold milk, works because it is wheeled to meet kids where they gather – entering school or in a common area, thus removing any stigma for students who receive free or reduced-price breakfast.
Grab-and-Go is making a profound difference. Our research shows breakfast participation has increased by an incredible 27 percent in schools that use this model, resulting in more children consuming more vital nutrients from milk and fresh foods, including cheese and yogurt.
Evolving methods
Dairy is a longtime staple of school meals. In fact, about 3 billion pounds of dairy move through the school channel annually and we know about 77 percent of daily milk consumption among low-income children happens at school. In fact, USDA data shows school foods are the richest source of dairy in children’s diets.
But we are faced with the reality we must evolve the way milk and school meals are served, which is why Grab-and-Go is so important
We also understand it’s critical that dairy farmers don’t carry the load alone on this mission. GENYOUth works with many like-minded partners that maximize checkoff investment. The NFL has been one of dairy’s leading partners and we recently experienced another example of the power of working with corporate funders like the NFL during the launching of the “Mission 57: End Student Hunger” initiative in Arizona.
The program’s name is inspired from the fact Super Bowl LVII (57) will be played in Arizona this February. We teamed with the Dairy Council of Arizona, the Arizona Super Bowl host committee, and corporate sponsors to fund and equip 57 schools with Grab-and-Go equipment. The situation in Arizona is dire, with about 84 percent of students qualifying for free/reduced-price meals but only 55 percent participating in breakfast.
We unveiled Mission 57 recently at the Glendale (Ariz.) Elementary School District office with dairy farmers, community and government leaders and others in attendance. One of the more moving moments came from watching some at-risk students gravitate so positively toward the Grab-and-Go equipment. Seeing their reaction to receiving a healthy meal, including milk, is what motivates our GENYOUth team every day. We can’t wait to see the impact this program will soon have with students in these 57 schools.
Farm education
As much as we’ll continue working to improve access to nutritious food and drive dairy consumption, we also want students to better understand the source of the milk they enjoy. To that end, we are partnering with Domino’s on the “Farm to Pizza” initiative so students can hear from farmers and others in the supply chain, such as Leprino, about practices that are good for people, animals and the planet.
Schools and children’s health and wellness have been farmer priorities for more than a century when they founded National Dairy Council. I am proud that GENYOUth is helping to carry this legacy forward and doing it in a way where we complement checkoff investments with partners who share dairy’s priorities and maximize our impact.
This formula allows us to do important work that is good for dairy and is making a difference in the lives of our nation’s children.
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