June is National Dairy Month—Celebrate with Delicious Dairy!

Nutrient-rich dairy is the star this month—June is National Dairy Month! Dairy products deliver all kinds of healthy nutrients to our bodies, including protein, Vitamin A, calcium, and potassium. Consuming dairy products like milk delivers nine essential nutrients, which can help you manage your weight, protect against certain cancers, fight osteoporosis, and reduce your risk for high blood pressure.

To kick off our celebration of National Dairy Month here at Beyond Breakfast, we are rounding up some of our very favorite dairy resources for our readers! Whether you are looking for ways to creatively menu dairy products for school meals, or you need to update your library of resource and promotional materials, you’ll find some great stuff through the links below!

National Dairy Council

In celebration of National Dairy Month the National Dairy Council has kicked off its “30 Days of Dairy!” campaign. During June, NDC will be sharing tips, facts, and recipes to help us add healthy dairy foods to our diets. Are you blogging about National Dairy Month? NDC also has a “30 Days of Dairy” badge, and a tip sheet (PDF) with information on adding dairy to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack time!

You will also find a host of dairy resources on the National Dairy Council Website under their Educational Materials and Research sections.

USDA

Check in with the USDA’s National Dairy Month coverage on their blog, using the USDA National Dairy Month tag. Authors include Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, as well as authors from the AMS Dairy Program. You’ll learn about everything from the history of dairy consumption in America, to current practices affecting dairy farmers across the country. The blogs so far have been fascinating, and we look forward to reading more throughout June.

DairyGood.org

One of the best dairy-centric websites around, the folks at Dairy Good are also celebrating National Dairy Month on their blog. If you are seeking information on the nation’s dairy farmers, you’ll find a wealth of information on Dairy Good, including:

• Child Development
• Recipes & Food Tips
• Facts & Myths

International Dairy Foods Association

The International Dairy Foods Association has resources to help give us a deeper understanding of the dairy industry, including issues affecting dairy policy and economics, environment and sustainability, food safety and defense, global markets, labeling and standards, and, of course, nutrition and health. If you are in need of in-depth resources about the dairy industry, the IDFA website is a great place to start.

Dairy Max

Whether you are searching for information on dairy for your kids at home, or your kids in the school lunch line, Dairy Max offers a host of useful resources to get you started. We particularly love the Dairy Max ‘Tools for Schools’ section that includes information on Fuel Up to Play 60, Dairy Dollars for Schools, and other Educational Resources like free promotional materials and incentives schools can use in their school breakfast and school lunch programs.

What online resources will you be using to celebrate National Dairy Month? Leave us a note in the comments section!