Idaho Dairy Council

School Foodservice

Idaho Dairy Council offers educational materials as well as grants and programs to encourage good eating habits for Idaho's children. Learn how Idaho Dairy Council can help your school food service program through:

Announcing the 2008 Expanding Breakfast Awards
Expanding Breakfast Presented By Idaho Dairy Council Logo
Apply Today!
The Expanding Breakfast Awards will recognize three Idaho schools for bringing a healthy breakfast to more children in creative ways. The benefits children receive from eating a nutritious breakfast are numerous and well-documented. Eating breakfast yields better student test scores, increases concentration and attendance, decreases disciplinary problems and more. Expanding Breakfast is a proven way to ensure all children are given those opportunities.

Award Amounts
$1,000
$2,000
$5,000

Eligibility
The Expanding Breakfast Awards are open to all Idaho schools that are currently offering an alternate breakfast service, such as Expanding Breakfast. Anyone in the school may apply for an award, including school nutrition managers, school nurses, or school administrators. Each school may apply only once.


Application Deadline
Applications must be received by October 15, 2008
Awards will be announced November 10, 2008

Download Application


For more information about the Expanding Breakfast Awards program, contact Cheri Storey at cstorey@udidaho.org.

Check out the following resources on how offering an alternate breakfast serving method can increase participation in your school breakfast program.

National Dairy Council, Nutrition Explorations, Expanding Breakfast

Expanding Breakfast Program Manual and Video Kit

Expanding Breakfast Online

School Breakfast Scorecard 2007, Food Research and Action Center

USDA FNS School Breakfast Program


Milk Cooler Grant
Milk tastes best when it is served cold and fresh. A proper cooler plays a role in creating the ideal situation for schools to serve cold, fresh milk, The Milk Cooler Grant program is designed to help those schools with limited resources obtain a milk cooler. More…

Milk Vending Machine Grant
Milk Vending Machine Is your school interested in vending milk? Are you willing to commit a minimal amount of resources in order to do so? United Dairymen of Idaho offers a milk vending machine grant program to provide funds to assist your school in purchasing a milk vending machine.

In addition to the grant, please review the Federal Regulations regarding the marketing and selling of fluid milk in schools. Milk vending machines become property of the school, and schools receive all profits from the milk sales. Milk vending machines provide a healthy beverage alternative for students.

If you are interested in more information regarding a milk vending or milk, yogurt and cheese vending machine for your school, please email Amanda Steier at asteier@idahodairycouncil.org.

New Look of School Milk Program Makes Milk Cool!



Did you know that nearly 9 out of 10 teenage girls and 7 out of 10 teenage boys do not meet the recommended daily intake of calcium?

According to an American Academy of Pediatrics report released in February 2006, when school-aged youth eat 3 servings of calcium-rich dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yogurt, they get the calcium needed to develop peak bone mass.

How do we motivate kids to drink more milk?

According to a year long study done in 20021, involving 100,000 students from various schools, milk consumption increased by 39% in secondary schools and 37% in elementary schools when milk was offered in:
  • Kid-friendly plastic packaging
  • Variety of flavors
  • Served ice-cold, visibly displayed
  • Multiple locations (lunch line, a la carte, vending machines)
This enhanced school milk program is the New Look of School Milk!
The New Look of School Milk makes milk "cool" and motivates children to choose milk.

What were the other benefits found in the 2002 School Milk Pilot Test?
  • Milk sales increased in both the secondary and elementary schools
  • Milk sales increased in the lunch line, a la carte, and vending
  • Students drank more of the milk they took
  • More students participated in the school meal programs
What are the health benefits for students?
  • Students with healthier nutrition have higher academic performance and increased school attendance.
  • Dairy foods supply 3 out of the 5 nutrients children need according to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines:2
    • Calcium
    • Potassium
    • Magnesium
  • Milk, cheese, and yogurt are among the most nutritious choices at school, providing the nutrients needed to build and maintain strong bones, build and repair muscle tissue, regulate heart function and blood pressure.
What do moms think?
  • In a recent survey among 4,000 3-A-DAY of Dairy moms, 92% said they are comfortable with their child drinking flavored milk at school.
If you are interested in providing the New Look of School Milk in your district, the first step is to communicate this request to your area dairy processor.
For more information about the New Look of School Milk and New Look of School Milk Pilot Test, please visit http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/sfs/pilot.asp

1Roper ASW (2002). School Milk Pilot Study: Sales Test, September 2001-June 2002, Dairy Management Inc. and American School Food Service Association, Unpublished.

2Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005 (6th edition). www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines.

Learn more about the New Look of School Milk:
Education Resources
  • Do the Comparison
    Show kids just how much sugar they consume when they drink sodas or juices. The Soda Bottle activity is an easy way to help kids visualize how the sugar in drinks they gulp down adds up in a hurry.

  • 3-A-Day Coloring Page
    Print this fun coloring page to help kids remember to get three servings of dairy every day.

  • Free Nutrition Materials
    The Idaho Dairy Council Nutrition catalog has a variety of useful information on school meals and promotion ideas. Most of our materials are provided at no charge.

  • got nutrition?
    Want more great nutrition ideas? Check out Nutrition Explorations.

    Good nutrition is an important component of a successful school experience. Action for Healthy Kids is a non-profit organization formed to address the epidemic of overweight, undernourished, sedentary children by focusing on changes at school. For more information on programs to improve food at schools, click here.