Healthy breakfast message is on the menu
THE YORKSHIRE-BASED dairy co-operative Arla has joined forces with a national charity to highlight the importance of a healthy breakfast.
Through videos and activities which will be available on the website, the campaign aims to show children where food comes from and the nutritional benefits of a good start to the day.
It is part of an ongoing collaboration between the farmer-owned co-op, which is based in Leeds, and Magic Breakfast, which provides morning meals for schoolchildren who would otherwise miss out.
Arla farmer and part-time school teacher Neil Dyson presents the videos outlining what dairy products are and why a healthy breakfast is needed. The films feature his herd of 500 Holstein cows on the family farm in Princes Risborough, in Buckinghamshire.
“As well as being a farmer, I am also a teacher so education is very important to me,” he said.
“I’m delighted to be involved in this project to help kids learn a bit more about life on a farm and the importance of enjoying a healthy, nutritious start to the day.”
Figures show nearly one in eight young people have never seen a cow in real life and a third of five to seven-year-olds think cheese comes from plants.
Mr Dyson, a father-of-two, said he hopes the videos will bring to life the dairy farming process and the steps he is taking to protect the environment.
Through its partnership with Magic Breakfast, Arla will provide enough milk for 4.8m bowls of cereal, including during the summer holidays to ensure children at risk of hunger do not miss out.
The charity’s chief executive officer, Alex Cunningham, said: “We are very pleased to be broadening our partnership with Arla by launching these great new resources for children. We are passionate about ensuring children eat a healthy breakfast each morning and these will help them to understand why it’s important to do so.”