From the farm to the factory

New Zealand is renowned as one of the dairy capitals of the world.

However for a lot of New Zealand children, if you asked where their milk, cheese or butter came from, the answer would probably be ‘‘out of a packet’’.

Fonterra wants to start educating children about what it means when milk goes from farm to factory and as part of this initiative introduced the Fonterra Milk for Schools Annual Back to School competition.

To be in to win, children were asked to produce a short video that taught school families and the wider community about the Fonterra Milk for Schools programme.

The brief was broad and could be anything from film to animation or a music video.

They were encouraged to let their imaginations run wild.

Approximately 50 New Zealand schools entered and two schools in New Zealand, one in the South Island and one in the North, won a glamping experience on a Fonterra dairy farm.

The results were determined by a public voting system and Te Aroha Primary School gathered support from the Te Aroha com- munity with 1614 votes and were chosen as the North Island winners.

Katalin Csengo from the Milk for Schools team said they were absolutely blown away by the videos that were sent in and all of the hard work and creativity that went into them.

‘‘Most of the children from Te Aroha Primary, had never experienced being on a dairy farm before,’’ Csengo said.

The glamping experience started with an overnight visit on Monday to a Fonterra farm in Ohaupo where the children were shown how to milk cows and how the milk was then collected by the tanker, followed by a camp fire, barbecue and roasted marshmallows.

The group planted a tree on the farm in the morning, then jumped on a bus back to Morrinsville where the class was taken for a site tour of the Morrinsville Fonterra Factory which opened in 1902 as a butter factory.

Today the site produces butter and milk powder.

They were given a safety brief, decked out in safety glasses and hi-vis vests and watched a short presentation about the history of the factory.

‘‘It was awesome seeing their reactions,’’ Csengo said. services contract is due to run until 2023, which means the proposed plan is focused on maintaining and improving current services and upgrading the refuse transfer stations to increase the amount of material that is diverted from landfill.

The three councils believe the views of the community are vital in shaping any plan, and encourage people to make a submission.

To view the statement of proposal or the draft plan itself, or to tell them what you think, visit www.haveyoursaytcdc.objective.com.

Alternatively visit any of the three named Council offices or libraries and pick up a submission form.

Submissions close at 4pm on May 8, 2017.

A hearing will be held in Paeroa on June 1 2017, if you wish to present to the hearings panel.