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WORLD SCHOOL MILK
DAY
How did it
start? Following discussion on FAO's email discussion lists regarding selecting a particular day
on which school milk could be celebrated internationally, consensus was reach
amongst members that World School Milk Day would be celebrated on the last
Wednesday in September. This date was chosen because schools were open all
the countries surveyed during this month. The end of the month was selected to
allow countries in the Western hemisphere sufficient time to prepare for this
day, as in most of these countries the school year starts in early September.
Wednesday was chosen as it was a school day in all countries
surveyed.
The 1st World School Milk Day was held in 2000
and it has since become an annual event . Every last Wednesday in
September, a growing number of countries
- regardless of whether they are large or small, rich or poor - celebrate
World School Milk Day, demonstrating that the interest in school milk is
universal.
This year WORLD SCHOOL MILK DAY is celebrated on Wednesday,
September 26,
2012.
The goal of World School Milk Day is to provide
a particular day when attention is focused on this issue and thereby promote
such programmes. Importance is lent to the event by the fact that other
countries are doing the same thing, on the same day, and that FAO is supporting
the activity.
FAO's role is to co-ordinate celebrations
by informing people through the Dairy-Outlook and School-Milk lists about the
Day and collating information from list members regarding preparations for
celebrating this Day and inspire others to join in. From our end here, we can
only remind, encourage and promote, but the real ideas and organizing work
happens at the national or local level in the various
countries.
How is World School Milk Day
celebrated? World School Milk Day is an "open" day - people are free to
celebrate how they wish. Celebrations can be at any level - from national
or regional events to individual schools. Some countries have started in a
small way and have organized bigger celebrations with each passing year. Big or
small, all have a common goal: to draw attention to school milk and thereby
promote its consumption.
In celebrating the Day, FAO's involvement can
be freely mentioned; however, this does not extend to FAO endorsing a particular
branded product. At the same time, a key facet of FAO's work on
school milk has been the duel promotion of dairy industry development and good
child nutrition. Therefore, branded products and promotions, which are a
way of promoting the dairy industry, can be used during
celebrations.
Celebrations of past years showed how creative people are
in celebrating WSMD. In almost all countries celebrating the Day,
free milk is distributed to children in schools. Other activities include
sporting events, distribution of educational and promotional material and
celebrity visits to schools; also drawing and art competitions are very popular.
Often dairy companies act as sponsors of the Day and provide not only free milk
but also promotional material such as t-shirts, caps, pens, posters, etc. for
the
children.