The New England Dairy and Food Council sponsored a Harvest of the Month: Dairy contest, inviting Harvest of the Month participants to send along images and a description of how they celebrated Dairy month at their schools for a chance to win a field trip to a dairy farm. The participating schools celebrated Dairy in a wide variety of ways from taste testing, to inviting farmers and government representatives to their schools, to incorporating dairy month into a web design class!
- Ford Middle School (Acushnet School District) taste tested 3 different types of grilled cheese sandwiches (spinach & artichoke, pizza, and ham & swiss) and will be adding the winner, spinach & artichoke, to their menu!
- The Ashfield School (Brockton School District) sampled Peaches n’ Cream Waffles (National Dairy Council recipe). They have a very high participation in the Grab ‘n Go breakfast program, and felt that Harvest of the Month: Dairy was a great way to promote the program even further. They also invited Susan Lolan, of Lolans Farm to visit the school and talk about her experiences as a dairy farmer.
- The Mary Burke School and Clark Avenue Middle School (Chelsea School District) made yogurt bowls with granola and fresh fruit and smoothie bowls (Green Monstah & Purple Paradise) which the students liked so much they asked for them to be added to the monthly menu.
- Schools in the Chicopee School District were given Shamrock Smoothies (spinach, orange juice, peaches, bananas, and yogurt), which were received very well by the students.
- Plympton Elementary School (Waltham School District) coordinated with Project Bread and invited State Representative Thomas Stanley and Waltham Mayor Jeanette McCarthy to a breakfast celebration where they featured Yogurt Parfait Sundaes (with sprinkles!).
- Silvia School (Fall River School District) took the opportunity to feature a different dairy product each week, such as, cottage cheese, low-fat sour cream, and low-fat cream cheese. They are also combining cheese with fresh herbs from their garden to use as toppings on their whole wheat pizzas.
- In addition to sampling yogurt parfaits, Lowell Public Schools also as part of their Spring 2017 Farm to School & Fuel Up Your Community Mini-Grant were able to host a “Name that Cheese” contest and a “Smoothie Showcase.”
- Medford High School incorporated a cheese tasting project in their Web Design class and created wonderful infographics based around dairy.
Contest Winner
The randomly selected winner of this year’s contest was: The Frank M. Silvia School from Fall River. Students from the Silvia School toured Whittier’s Dairy Farm in Sutton, MA on a hot summer day in June. The tour was led by Sam and Mary of Whittier’s who taught the students about a variety of different aspects of dairy farming. The students were very engaged, asked great questions, and enjoyed milk from Whittier’s during lunch.
Thanks to New England Dairy & Food Council for hosting & organizing the contest!
