Press Releases

Solanco High School Students Get 3-A-Day™ of Dairy All Day

PHILADELPHIA (June 6, 2007) – Two eye-catching vending machines now offer Solanco High School students around-the-clock access to building stronger bones with milk, cheese and yogurt. On June 1, the school held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to premier the new 3-A-Day™ of Dairy vending machine and a cow-spotted vending machine, both of which are located just outside the cafeteria.

Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association presented David Haines, the district’s foodservice director, a $4,000 grant to purchase the two machines as part of its vending start-up program. One machine will be stocked with milk, cheese and yogurt, while the other will sell Turkey Hill brand milk in original, strawberry and chocolate flavors.

Solanco High junior and Lancaster County Alternate Dairy Princess Hannah Wentworth, who is working on the Girl Scout’s Gold Award, is working with Haines to promote the dairy vending machines. The machines will give Hannah and her fellow students all-day access to nutritious dairy foods. Other vending machines are only available after 3:30 p.m.

“The vending machines are just one piece of a 65-hour service project that included 3-A-Day of Dairy presentations to almost 500 students,” said Hannah, who lives and works on her family’s Quarryville dairy farm. “I challenged the students, who are in kindergarten through third grade, to consume three servings of dairy a day. The class in each school with the highest participation won an ice cream party.”

According to Haines, the dairy vending machines will offer students all-day access to nutritious foods that will help them be better students and athletes. “Plus, this is an agricultural community, and it’s great that we’re able to support the farmers in our area,” he said.

“We are pleased to work with Solanco School District to place the new vending machines,” 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 3-A-Day of Dairy vending machines will help remind students to get three servings of dairy each day, and will provide options to get the calcium they need.”

The 3-A-Day™ of Dairy for Stronger Bones campaign was designed to address America's low calcium intake, a major public health concern. The campaign emphasizes the importance of calcium and the need to get at least three servings of dairy — milk, cheese or yogurt — each day.

Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, an affiliate of the National Dairy Council®, provides nutrition education programs and services to schools in the Mid-Atlantic region. Grants are available to help schools establish a dairy vending program. For more information, visit www.dairyspot.com.