Tag Archives: community

How We Celebrated June Dairy Month

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Since 1937, June has been designated as a special month to celebrate milk and all things dairy. National Dairy Month is an annual tradition that recognizes the contributions the dairy industry has made to health and happiness around the world.

Oregon has a lot to celebrate, and what better way to kick things off than World Milk Day? After all, milk is Oregon’s official state beverage. On every day of June, we served up some cheesy, dairy-themed jokes on social media. As an example, this was one of the crowd favorites: Why was the dairy farmer the slowest player on the baseball field? You’d be slow too if your jersey weighed 1,000 pounds!

Cloverdale dairy farmer Ron Hurliman served as Grand Marshal of the June Dairy Parade in Tillamook

June Dairy Parade Grand Marshal Ron Hurliman (right), with wife Vonnie. Courtesy of Tillamook Headlight Herald.

There were several dairy events and observances throughout the month as well. Cloverdale dairy farmer Ron Hurliman served as Grand Marshal of the June Dairy Parade in Tillamook. With more than 120 entries, the parade is a centerpiece of the June Dairy Festival alongside the Tillamook County YMCA Milk Run and the Tillamook County Rodeo. You can read all about the festivities in this special insert from the Tillamook Headlight Herald. Capital Press also had this special section for June Dairy Month with several great stories.

On Father’s Day, we shared a poetic tribute to dairy dads called “Until the Cows Come Home,” and on the first day of summer we shared a delicious recipe for Yogurt and Dill Smashed Potatoes. Our partner Food Hero made milk the featured food of the month and shared this great handout.

We sponsored the Milk Carton Boat Race in partnership with the Royal Rosarians, the Oregon Dairy Princess Ambassadors, Darigold and many others. A Rose Festival tradition since 1973, the family-friendly event features kids, adults and teams racing across a pond on boats that float atop empty milk cartons and milk jugs. KGW television’s Drew Carney highlighted the event on his Sunrise show and KATU’s Katherine Kisiel was an event announcer.

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At the national level, a running theme throughout the month involved dairy’s contributions to fighting food insecurity and child hunger. The “Real Love Convoy” brought Undeniably Dairy branded trucks to New York, Washington D.C., Detroit and Cleveland for media opportunities and public events featuring dairy. This included an appearance with spokeswoman Laila Ali and dairy farmer Katie Dotterer-Pyle on Good Morning America. Locally, we helped promote summer meals programs in Oregon with this special video featuring Oregon’s Fuel Up to Play 60 spokesperson Anthony Newman.

While National Dairy Month may be over, we’ll continue to celebrate dairy year round. Oh, and did we mention that July is National Ice Cream Month? Stay tuned for a fun announcement on National Ice Cream Day (July 21)!

Splish Splash If You Don’t Do the Math: The 2019 Milk Carton Boat Race

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Will it float? That question typically gets an immediate answer at the Milk Carton Boat Race when kids, adults and entire teams of people climb onto handmade boats whose buoyancy depends entirely upon recycled milk jugs and cartons. Surprisingly, most of them not only float but prove to be stable and swift.

Royal Rosarians’ Milk Carton Boat Race
A Portland Rose Festival tradition since 1973
Sunday, June 23; 11 a.m.
Westmoreland Park Casting Pond, SE McLoughlin Blvd and Bybee Blvd
Cost: FREE!

“There’s a tried and true formula — a one gallon jug supports eight pounds and a half-gallon supports four pounds,” said Josh Thomas, Senior Director of Communications for the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council. “It’s splish splash if you don’t do the math.”

The event is 100% free to attend and compete, and there are awards for speed and originality. While time is getting short to build a boat, it isn’t too late to enter and compete.

“I have even seen people finishing their boats on the morning of the event,” said Thomas. He suggests collecting jugs and cartons from local coffee shops, restaurants, cafeterias, friends and family – and stocking up on duct tape.

While creativity is certainly encouraged, there are rules on size and all boats must be human-powered. Participants who choose not to keep their boats for future years will be encouraged to dismantle and recycle them at their home. For the race categories, rules and registration, visit the official Royal Rosarians’ Milk Carton Boat Race event page today.

The Milk Carton Boat Race is produced by the Royal Rosarians and presented by the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council.

RELATED LINKS:

Milk Carton Boat Race Rules and Registration

How to Build A Boat

A Fun Aerial View of the Pond

Milk to the Rescue: Addressing an Ongoing Need

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It’s a staple of American households and often tops the grocery list, but for many low-income families, having milk in the refrigerator can be a rarity. According to the Great American Milk Drive, people served by food banks receive less than one gallon per person per year on average. In Oregon, that statistic is changing.

Thanks to an influx of milk provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Food Assistance Program, the Oregon Food Bank network has been distributing nutritious skim, 1%, 2%, and whole milk every week to local families and individuals. So far, this has totaled nearly 160,000 gallons.

While it is great news, this did pose some challenges due to perishability, refrigeration capacity and logistics. In what they described as ‘a flurry of activity,’ Oregon Food Bank staff welcomed the distribution challenge and overcame stumbling blocks in coordination with Oregon’s 20 regional food banks to get the product in and out to communities as quickly as possible.

“This is a highly valuable and needed product across our region, and we’ve gotten really strong support from our partners in adjusting systems and processes that allow us to accept incredibly high volumes of milk,” said Gretchen Miller, Sourcing and Operations Strategist for Oregon Food Bank. “It’s more than we ever have in the past. What we’re happiest about is that we’re able to get fresh, high quality milk into the food insecure communities we serve.”

This milk provides a temporary supply to meet ongoing demand, and there are still long term needs to be addressed when it comes to fighting hunger in Oregon. You can help make a difference by contributing to the Oregon Food Bank and/or the Great American Milk Drive.

Portland School Walks the Walk for Wellness

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Jason Lee Elementary School in Portland has been recognized with a statewide award for literally “walking the walk” when it comes to championing wellness for students and faculty.

Every Friday morning, rain or shine, Jason Lee Elementary School staff, students and parents walk or run the “Morning Mile” before school. Combined with the school’s physical education program, nutritious cooking classes for students and a community garden, you can start to see some of the many reasons why it was one of the two schools in Oregon to earn a 2019 School Wellness Award.

This award recognizes schools for outstanding school wellness policies, practices and programs that promote healthy student and staff behavior. These schools have implemented evidence-based strategies to encourage student, staff and community health and wellness. These strategies include:

  • Providing healthy celebration opportunities
  • Scheduling recess before lunch
  • Providing breakfast after the bell
  • Wellness initiatives for school staff
  • Family Night events that get everyone moving
  • School gardens
  • Healthy cooking programs for families
  • Open gym before and after school hours

The Nutrition Council of Oregon and the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council, the title sponsors for these awards, join the Oregon Department of Education in recognizing these schools. Each award recipient receives a $2,500 cash prize, a banner and a certificate of recognition presented at local school celebrations. Wilson Elementary School in Corvallis joins Jason Lee Elementary as the other 2019 award winner.

The places where we live, work and learn have a big impact on our health. Wellness policies guide school efforts to establish an environment that creates a healthy workplace for staff, and promotes student health, well-being, and ability to learn. All districts are required to have wellness policies in place that meet Oregon’s minimum requirements, but schools can choose to implement stronger policies or additional programs to further support student and staff wellness.

Fighting Hunger, One Grilled Cheese Sandwich at a Time

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There are plenty of reasons to love February. Sure, there’s Valentine’s Day and Oregon’s birthday for becoming a state, but have you heard of the month-long effort to fight hunger known as “The Melt Down?” If you like grilled cheese sandwiches, you’ll love what you’re about to read.

During the entire month of February, 20 restaurants in Amity, Carlton, Dayton, Dundee, McMinnville and Newberg are selling their own special grilled cheese sandwiches in a friendly competition for the title of the “Biggest Cheese.” Everyone ends up a winner though, since all grilled cheese sandwiches sold during the month of February raise funds for the Yamhill Community Action Partnership (YCAP) regional food bank. This year’s goal is $20,000.

As part of the Oregon Food Bank network, YCAP provides food to 17 emergency food pantries strategically located throughout Yamhill County. These pantries provide a variety of fresh and shelf-stable groceries to low-income families and individuals. YCAP also provides food to six meal sites in the county.

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From a prior year, this is just one of many tasty examples from The Melt Down.

In the spirit of friendly competition, The Melt Down chefs are using some serious creativity with their culinary creations, including special cheeses, sauces, breads and other tasty surprises. As the Yamhill Valley News-Register reported, “These are not your father’s grilled cheese sandwiches.” Many local cheeses and dairy ingredients are featured on the menus.

Through the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council, Oregon dairy farmers and processors are supporting The Melt Down in 2019 alongside ongoing nutrition and food security initiatives. There are also plans to involve Oregon Dairy Princess-Ambassadors, local dairy farmers and Undeniably Dairy materials in related events and communications.

There’s a passport available for those adventurous souls who seek to experience all 20 offerings throughout the course of the month. But just remember, there are only 28 days in February, and if you want to try them all, the clock is ticking … good luck!

RELATED LINKS:

The Melt Down 2019 Restaurants and Sandwiches

YCAP Regional Food Bank

The Melt Down on Facebook

meltdownlist

Feeding the Need: How the Oregon Dairy Community Fights Hunger

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September marks the end of summer, a transition to fall and the start of a new school year. One could say that this month represents a time for change. So, it is fitting that September is Hunger Action Month – a month where individuals and organizations across the country come together to make a positive change for hungry people and families in our communities.

According to the Oregon Hunger Task Force, one out of every eight Oregonians struggle with hunger, including 20 percent of all children. Oregon currently ranks as the 12th hungriest state in the nation. In 2004, Oregon was ranked as the hungriest state. While there is still a long way to go, Oregon is making significant progress thanks in part to the generous donations of dairy foods that have helped nourish hungry families. Here are just a few examples:

  • Just under 2 million pounds of dairy products were donated to the Oregon Food Bank last year.
  • In 2018, the Tillamook County Creamery Association earned a national Outstanding Community Impact Award. It’s donations to the Oregon Food Bank included funds, food, a delivery truck, and funding for research aimed to end hunger.
  • Also in 2018, an Oregon farm and a dairy plant donated 100,000 pounds of shelf-stable milk powder to Oregon Food Bank. This was equal to 1.1 million gallons of milk.
  • Between 2014 and 2016, Lochmead Farms donated 20,000 gallons of milk to their local pantry, Food for Lane County.
  • Beginning in 2008, Threemile Canyon Farms donates 8,000 pounds of beef every month to help hungry Oregonians through the Farmers Ending Hunger program. The donations have provided nearly 1 million pounds of much needed protein to the Oregon Food Bank network and organizations like Blanchet House.

There are more examples, but many go untold simply because helping others is “just the right thing to do.” Dairy farmers and processing companies in Oregon have a deep, often multi-generational commitment to the communities where they farm, work and live. During Hunger Action Month, we celebrate their year round work to fight hunger and thank the Oregon dairy community for their generosity.

On average, people served by food banks receive the equivalent of less than one gallon of milk per person per year. You can help address this unmet need by contributing to the Great American Milk Drive or join the 10-Gallon Challenge today.

by Tyler Chase, Oregon Health & Science University Dietetic Intern

Nutrition Leader Honored as Health and wellness Champion

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A red plate set at the supper table is a time honored tradition among American families to recognize someone who deserved special praise.

4 years ago, OSU’s Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition and Preventative Health amplified that tradition to start the Moore Family Center Founder’s Red Plate Award. An award designed to recognize professionals who work to help individuals and communities live healthier through good nutrition.

This year’s Red Plate Award was given to Anne Goetze RDN, LD, FAND, OSU alumni and Sr. Director of Nutrition Affairs for the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council (ODNC). But she humbly deflects the praise. “I have worked for dairy farm families for many years and am grateful for their commitment to healthy communities. They tend their land, animals and natural resources just as they tend their families, with love and an eye for the future.”

Anne has been committed to Oregon dairy farmers through ODNC for 28 years, educating the public about nutrition and healthy lifestyles. “We absolutely believe dairy products are an irreplaceable part of a healthy diet,” Anne says, “and we’re working to educate Oregonians about how they’re part of a sustainable food system.”

Anne’s work through ODNC influences the nutrition field through farm to table messaging. “It’s the choices people make that impact whether or not we’re going to have farms [in the future].”

An article written by Hanna Knowles, OSU’s assistant Director of Marketing and Communications, says, “Anne’s influence within the nutrition field is wide-ranging. She strives to be a relevant and strategic resource for dairy processors by helping them interpret consumer research, apply new nutrition policies and develop product innovations. She provides current and future dietitians with continuing education and is a conduit for health and nutrition education in Oregon.”

“I learned from the very best, from birth to today,” says Anne, “and I am very grateful to work for Oregon’s dairy farmers.”

It was a unanimous decision to honor Anne with the Red Plate award. Endowed Director of the Moore Family Center, Emily Ho said, “Anne leads with heart, dedication and infectious enthusiasm, which has activated countless others to join the cause of improved health in Oregon.”

What’s the Scoop?

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July is National Ice Cream Month and dairy farmers, in partnership with the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council (ODNC), celebrated by delivering “random acts of ice cream” to deserving members of the community during the first-ever “Scoop it Forward Week” July 15-22.

“Ice cream is one of those things that just makes everything better, and we saw this as a simple way to bring positivity and joy to people’s lives in surprising and unexpected ways,” said Josh Thomas, Senior Director of Communications for the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council. “Random acts of kindness can be contagious, and our call to action is simply for people to spread the good and pay it forward.”

ODNC delivered locally processed ice cream treats to many places including, the Tigard Police Department, the Salem Fire Department, a playground and a skate park.

Cloud Cap Farms, a dairy in Clackamas County, also celebrated by treating the first 100 customers at Baskin-Robbins in Sandy Oregon, to a free cone. “When you buy dairy products, you are supporting my family and our business. Scoop it Forward is our way of saying thank you.”

Louie Kazemier, owner of Rickreall Dairy near Salem, also joined in the fun by delivering 250 ice cream sandwiches to Camp Attitude near Sweet Home, Oregon. Camp Attitude serves children who have special needs and their families. “It was a fun evening,” said Kazemier.

And Central Oregon’s Eberhard’s Dairy Products “scooped it forward” by handing out 36 gallons of free ice cream in Bend and Redmond. “We wanted to participate because we loved the message behind Scoop it Forward. We always say without our community we would not be where we are today so it felt good to give back to the community that has given us so much!” said Emily Eberhard.

ODNC hopes other people will continue to pass it on. “This is one small gesture that can make a really big difference,” said Thomas.

 

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“Scoop It Forward” Promotes Random Acts of Ice Cream

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1 Scoop logoJuly is National Ice Cream Month, and it includes a celebration of appreciation called “Scoop It Forward.” Supported by Oregon’s dairy farmers and processors, the week-long campaign, from July 15 to 22, encourages people to show appreciation for one another through random acts of ice cream.

“Ice cream is one of those things that just makes everything better, and we saw this as a simple way to bring positivity and joy to people’s lives in surprising and unexpected ways,” said Josh Thomas, Senior Director of Communications for the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council. “Random acts of kindness can be contagious, and our call to action is simply for people to spread the good and pay it forward.”

Leading up to this week, there have already been surprise ice cream deliveries to a playground, a skate park, a police station and Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland. And that’s just the beginning. Each person who receives ice cream is encouraged to recognize at least two others with a special delivery of their own.

Suggestions include recognizing family, friends, neighbors, a favorite teacher, local police or fire departments or even complete strangers. Photos and video from these moments will be shared on social media using the hashtag #ScoopItForward. Those who aren’t able to give ice cream are encouraged to send ice cream emojis with a message of appreciation. Organizers hope the positivity will spread far and wide.

“This is such a simple gesture that anybody can do,” said Thomas. “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream, and that’s pretty close”

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Discover the Art of Dairy

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Throughout Portland, Salem and the state of Oregon, you can find artistic interpretations of dairy cows and dairy farming on public display … if you know where to look. For June Dairy Month, we picked six of our favorites for a visual scavenger hunt that we called “Dairy Everywhere.”

It wasn’t easy, but Mary Owen of Salem was able to identify (at least partially) four of the six locations, earning her an Undeniably Dairy prize package. “This was a tough contest!” said Owen, “I learned a lot through it though.”

As promised when the contest was announced, here are the locations:

We’re hearing rumors that a very special Brown Swiss cow could be added to Albany’s Historic Carousel and Museum sometime soon. Although this contest is over, you can send us additional suggestions to be added to our online gallery of dairy art anytime. Happy hunting!

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