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Homer-Center High School Students “got milk?®” in New Vending Machine

PHILADELPHIA (May 23, 2007) – Students at Homer Center School District in Homer City now can get milk throughout the school day from a new cow-spotted “got milk?^®” vending machine. The school’s foodservice department recently received a $2,000 grant to purchase and install the vending machine, which is stocked with a variety of milks in 16-ounce plastic bottles.

“I think we should give students the option of choosing milk throughout the day and not just with lunch,” said Susan McLoughlin, MS, RD, LDN, foodservice director. “The student response has been overwhelming — we have to restock the machine three times a week.”

The new vending machine is located just outside the school cafeteria. Turner Dairy Farms of Pittsburgh supplies the 16-ounce plastic bottles of skim and reduced-fat white milk and lowfat chocolate, strawberry and vanilla milk, which retail for $1. The machine also is stocked with bottles of 100 percent orange and apple juices.

“Because of the upcoming renovations in our school, the only space we have for the new vending machine is next to the pop machine,” McLoughlin said. “Milk sales in the new machine are blowing pop out of the water.” According to McLoughlin, the school has switched to filling more than half the pop machine with healthier beverages such as juice and water to comply with the district’s wellness policy.

Black and white cow spots adorn the vending machine, which was purchased with a grant from Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, the regional affiliate of the National Dairy Council.

“We were pleased to work with Homer-Center High School to place the new vending machine,” said Janette C. Carpentier, M.A., FMP, vice president of school marketing for Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association. “Teenagers, in particular, need their calcium. Nine out of 10 teen girls and seven out of 10 teen boys do not meet their daily calcium requirements. The ‘got milk?’ vending machine will help remind students to get three servings of dairy each day and will provide options to get the calcium they need.”

Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, an affiliate of the National Dairy Council^®, provides nutrition education programs and services to schools in the Mid-Atlantic region. For more information about how schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, northern Virginia and New Jersey can receive a grant from Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, call (215) 627-8800 or visit www.dairyspot.com.