School milk must be available in all regions

The World School milk day became an international holiday in 2000 and today is supported by the UN Agencies FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization).

As The DairyNews reports, in the Dairy Union of Russia, which initiated the program "School milk" in the Russian Federation, today the program covers 36 regions and in total, about 2.5 million children (in 2013 - 2.6 million in 46 regions).




"The main reason for the decreasing the number of regions-participants of the program is the budget deficit of the subjects. Therefore, in order the program doesn’t depend on that, the Dairy Union of Russia is trying to achieve Federal co-financing", - said the Deputy Executive Director of the Dairy Union of Russia Evgeny Kuplyauskas.

According to Marina Petrova, the General Director of "Petrova Five Consulting", the program "School milk" is important and useful for the health of the younger generation.

"Milk is rich in protein, calcium and vitamins required for normal growth of the body. Milk consumption in schools provides correct eating behavior and introduces milk and dairy products in daily diet. All countries where there is increasing consumption of milk and dairy products have milk in the structure of school meals. It’s a pity that today, this program is not implemented everywhere and many regions abandon it due to budget problems. But with the decline in real incomes of population and capabilities to provide children with a sufficient amount of milk at home, the program acquires a special importance," said Marina Petrova.

According to experts, we need to strive to ensure the program “School milk” to be available in all regions.

"Beside the benefit for the health of children, implementation of this program provides a stable load for local dairies, which is also important in the context of reducing overall demand for dairy products. In the current economic situation it is necessary to fund the program together from federal and local budgets, and it is better to leave its implementation at the regional level",- said Marina Petrova.

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