Dairy month goes back many years

BLOOMINGTON – This year marks the 90th anniversary of the St. Louis District Dairy Council, an organization that has been around since 1932.

“Our theme this year is called 90 and on the mooove, so it reflects how the industry has changed and how all of those dairy products at the grocery store have changed over time,” notes the council’s Monica Nyman.

June Dairy Month is a great time to honor and thank our nation’s dairy farmers.

“They are out there working in the high heat indexes and in the frigid cold temperatures. Every single day of the year, cows have to be milked,” Nyman explained.

Nyman recommends three servings of dairy from a nutrition perspective. This can easily fit into your diet.

So how was June chosen as Dairy Month? It was the month when all of the fresh green grass was growing so the cows produced more milk. This left farmers wondering what to do with the extra supply.

“A group of grocery chain stores did a promotion called ‘keep youthful, drink milk’ back in 1937. They changed the name to June Dairy Month from National Milk Month a couple of years later.”

Dairy Month is the longest continuous food promotion event in the country.