The N.Y. Times Article Regarding Dairy Promotion-Misleading?

Recently the New York Times reported in an article that Dairy Management Incorporated {DMI} is funded by the government to promote dairy products, {more specifically cheese}. While DMI receives some funding from the government to help fund positive programs such as the food assistance program,  it receives payment from us, the dairy farmers and ONLY from us, to promote our dairy products.  Tax payers can feel rest assured, government funds, in no way, goes to the promotion of U.S. dairy products.  The dairy checkoff program was created by farmers, for farmers, and is funded by America’s dairy farm families.
DMI helps the dairy industry stay in tune with consumer preferences and the latest dietary guidance by sharing nutrition science and product and consumer research, which the industry uses to develop healthier choices in dairy foods, such as reduced fat and sodium cheese and reduced sugar flavored milk.

More than 50 percent of DMI’s annual budget is allocated to advance dairy health and wellness efforts, that are consistent with the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Those programs include: nutrition and product research (including research regarding the development of reduced-fat and reduced-sodium cheeses); the in-school Fuel Up to Play 60 program that aims to help children’s health by bringing healthy eating and physical activity to more than 64,000 schools; efforts to help build a more sustainable U.S. dairy industry; and programs to meet consumer needs, such as those with real or perceived lactose intolerance.

For other dairy farmer articles regarding this subject, you can check out these posts I have listed below:
How My Little Blog Out-Reported the New York Times by Year of Plenty
Holy Cow! More Media Misinformation.  FACT:  Dairy Farmers Pay to Promote Milk! by Dairy Goddess
Got Facts? The N.Y. Times article about Dairy got it Wrong by The Dairy Mom
DMI is Farmer Funded NOT Government Funded! by Orange Patch Dairy
Does a major news outlet have more half truths than Pinocchio by RayLinDairy

And here's a very informative letter to the editor in the Washington Post titled "Dairy Farmers Aren't Milking the Government" by DMI's Tom Gallagher - OR just read it below......

Dairy farmers aren't milking the government

Thursday, November 18, 2010; 5:57 PM

America's dairy farmers were surprised at the media coverage, including a Post editorial ["Got fat?," Nov. 13], that followed a misleading story suggesting that the federal government was paying to promote increased cheese consumption in the United States.

The reason for the surprise is that the story isn't true. Dairy farmers pay the entire cost of promoting their products to American consumers. Congress set up this national program at the request of dairy farmers who each pay a small fee for product research and promotion.

The Post objects that the program wastes "government authority" by being administered by the Agriculture Department. But even here, dairy farmers actually pay USDA for all its costs of administering the program. It costs taxpayers nothing, which is as it should be.

Most concerning about all of this is the distortion of dairy farmers' self-funded efforts to encourage consumption of one of the most nutritionally powerful foods in the human diet. Milk is a complex food naturally containing all three energy nutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) as well as nine key vitamins and minerals essential to health. It provides three of the federal government's five "nutrients of concern" that are under-consumed in the U.S. diet.

We use the federal government's "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" as the cornerstone of our nutrition advice. While the guidelines urge adults to consume three servings a day of low-fat and fat-free dairy, actual dairy consumption is well below that level.

America's obesity problem will not be solved by demonizing certain foods. The solution lies in cutting total calories, eating in moderation with a focus on nutrient-rich foods and becoming more physically active. On behalf of America's dairy farmers, we are committed to being part of the solution.

Tom Gallagher, Rosemont, Ill.
The writer is chief executive of Dairy Management Inc.

Pin It

What do Farmers, Facebook, Twitter and Blogging have in common?

If you answered, 'Agvocating' and being proactive, you are correct because over 1,200 farmers, nationwide use social media as a tool to 'agvocate' thanks in large part to the AgChat Foundation.

As most of you know, over the past two days I have been in Chicago attending the 1st annual AgChat Social Media Training Conference. The conference was held at the offices of Dairy Management Incorporated {DMI} in Rosemont, Ill. The offices of DMI take up two floors within an office building and the attendees rotated between three presentation rooms for our breakout sessions amongst the two floors.

Let me just say, what an amazing experience with a fantastic group of 80+ Farmers. There were farmers and agribusiness attendees from across the U.S. and North America. Some of the attendees included farmers from the following industries; dairy farmers, pig farmers, row crop growers, beef cattle ranchers, goat and sheep farmers, cotton growers {and many more that I can’t think of right now}. I had the pleasure of meeting many of the attendees in person for the first time, and many of them I had already befriended on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, so it was great to finally meet them in person. Meeting face to face and getting to know someone’s personality, I believe, gives us a deeper connection with one another. I would now, feel completely comfortable calling them on the phone if I had a question for them, regarding their farm. This conference was such a great networking opportunity for all of us.

Collage Cow and the DMI office.

Within the 24 hour packed schedule, we covered topics such as using social media to its fullest potential, how to better utilize social media tools to connect with a wider audience that extends beyond the Ag world and different ideas on how to tell our farm story. I came away with quite a few new ideas that I hope to implement in the near future. Stay tuned!

We enjoyed getting to know each other at dinner on Monday night.
Sitting at my table from left: Mary Ellen, Mike- "Farmer Haley", Colby and Liz.

On the other side of the table: Lori Anne, oh my I've drawn a blank!{update: Jan}, Kathy and again Liz.

I stayed at the Sheraton Gateway Suites Chicago O'Hare. After dinner I walked back over to my hotel and should have hit the sheets considering I had been up since 3 a.m. to catch a flight to Chicago, but instead I ended up on-line trying to implement some of the things I learned.

A 1 a.m. bedtime makes for a groggy 6 a.m. wake up call.
Back to the conference on the second day. For many more informative meetings.

Michele Payne-Knoper, one of the AgChat Foundation founders, giving her closing speech. You can read more about Michele at Cause Matters, her blog.

Some of the AgChat board members and trainers; Jeff Fowle {center} is a Cattle Rancher and you can find out more about him on his blog,  Common Sense Agriculture or on hisTwitter account, where he is followed by over 22,000 followers and Ray Prock {right}, is a Dairy Farmer, you can find at his blog, Ray-Lin Dairy or on his Twitter account, where he is followed by over 10,000 followers.
Both Jeff and Ray are from California.

I found myself leaving the conference wishing it hadn't yet ended. I made so many great connections and learned many new ideas. I feel proud to be a part of such a dedicated Team of Farmers {which are definitely not limited to the conference attendees}, dedicated to getting the correct and true Ag story out there to the public by telling their own personal Ag story.


Again I would like to thank my sponsors, Dairy Management Inc. and Dairy Farmers of America for covering my costs to attend this event.

Happy Wednesday!

Pin It

Chicago

photo from Google images

As you are reading this, I am excited to inform you that I am in Chicago attending the first ever AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 Training Conference.  This is a conference limited to 50 participants who were chosen to attend by submitting an application.  It's a two day conference focused on social media use for farmers.

I want to thank my sponsors, for without them I would not have been able to attend.

DMI ~ Dairy Management Incorporated for covering all of my travel expenses {thanks Jolene}

and

DFA ~ Dairy Farmers of America for covering the attendance cost of the conference {thanks Monica}

Special thanks to Michele Payn-Knoper and Marilyn & George Mertens for asking these organizations for sponsorship on my behalf.

Stay tuned!  I will try to post some previews from Chicago!

Happy Monday!

Pin It