An estimated 25,000 school children from across Ireland have taken part in an event to celebrate Lá Fhéile Bainne on World School Milk Day.
Galway dairy farmer, Henry Walsh, and his son Enda hosted the event on their family farm not only for school children in the local area but also for thousands of pupils throughout Ireland who logged on to see at first hand how milk is produced.
World School Milk Day is promoted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to mainly “celebrate the health benefits of school milk programmes”.
According to the National Dairy Council (NDC) school milk “is very valuable” for Irish children, and count towards one of their recommended daily servings.
“As part of a balanced diet, three daily servings from the milk, yogurt and cheese food group are recommended for 5-8 year olds and five daily servings are recommended for 9-18 year olds,” the NDC said.
The Walsh father and son farming team explained, together with members of the NDC and the educational body Agri Aware, to their audience on farm and on the webinar where milk comes from and how it gets from the field to the table.
The Walsh family currently supply to both Aurivo and Kerry Agri-business and both co-ops also took part in today’s event, showcasing their role in processing milk and then producing a range of dairy products such as butter and cheese.
Mark Keller, director of strategic operations with NDC, said today was the first time it has held both a live and virtual event for schools to celebrate World School Milk Day.
“NDC runs the EU school milk scheme where subsidised milk is available to schoolchildren all over Ireland,” he said.
According to Mary Harrington who is also from the council, World School Milk Day highlights Ireland’s grass-based production system and promotes the “importance of dairy in a healthy, balanced diet.”