WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) this week announced the launch of the Organic Dairy Product Promotion (ODPP) program, allocating $15 million to expand access to organic dairy products in educational institutions and youth programs. Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) issued the following statement:
“IDFA applauds USDA on this new effort to increase consumption of organic dairy products among children and young adults. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans highlights that between 68% and 76.2% of school-age males and between 77.4% and 94.3% of school-age females are not consuming enough dairy. Programs like the ODPP will work to improve access to nutritious dairy products for children and young Americans while building partnerships between dairy businesses and school districts. We encourage USDA to continue to focus on creative ways to increase consumption of nutritious dairy foods including conventional, organic, lactose-free, and value-added dairy, especially among communities that historically under consume nutritious dairy.”
