Sponsoring the Dietitians of Canada’s Nutrition Month campaign is a great way for Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) to help promote messages about good nutrition.

This campaign targets consumers and seventh-grade to 12th-grade students and teachers across Canada with messages on healthy eating and the importance of milk products. It also shows DFC’s commitment to the nutrition professionals’ community across Canada.

This year, Nutrition Month focuses on food skills; this theme is reflected in the material created by DFC. More than 32,000 English and French posters have been produced and are being distributed to dietitians and teachers across Canada, along with nutrition education fact sheets.

You can find out more about Nutrition Month on the campaign website.

National Get Enough campaign
The national Get Enough nutrition campaign, which encourages Canadians to get the recommended servings of milk and alternatives according to Canada’s Food Guide, continues to run with a new television ad, magazine ads and online publicity throughout the year.

In 2014, the campaign will also leverage DFC’s long-time partnerships with the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, Osteoporosis Canada and the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada by highlighting some of the key health benefits of milk products and motivating consumers to increase their intake.

Multiple media integrations are planned, including short videos with renowned dietitians Hélène Laurendeau and Sue Mah, and chefs Stefano Faita and Christine Tizzard on CBC and Radio-Canada.

The dietitians will also appear as guests on Steven & Chris, In the kitchen with Stefano, Best Recipes Ever, Ricardo and Entrée Principale to talk about the importance of consuming enough milk products.

In-store publicity and free booklets in the yogurt, cheese and milk aisles of grocery stores will promote the benefits of milk products and provide information. DFC representatives and dietitians will also conduct in-store visits throughout the year.

What’s more, a mobile application for smartphones is in development to help consumers take action and change their eating habits, helping them improve their daily routine with motivating tips. The application will help them track their daily consumption of foods from the four groups. Find out more about the campaign.

DFC focus on school nutrition programs
School nutrition programs are very important to DFC since healthy eating habits are developed early in life. Over the years, our team of dietitians has developed many programs to help teachers and child-care educators teach children about nutrition.

We invite you to browse the TeachNutrition.org website to catch a glimpse of DFC’s many programs. Among recent highlights, we are pleased to announce that Le grand livre des petits chefs, the educational cookbook that was developed for Quebec childcare centres, was recently adapted in English.

The Little Chef’s Big Book of Recipes will be distributed to child-care educators during DFC nutrition education workshops in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

The Quebec school tennis tour is being held for the fifth year this spring. A DFC dietitian will accompany the Tennis Quebec team to 75 elementary schools across the province to lead a nutrition and physical activity game during students’ lunch break, as well as host cooking workshops during after- school programs.

Teachers and students alike have been enjoying DFC Ontario’s online nutrition education units. These quirky and fun online activities teach complex nutrition concepts in a way that captures students’ attention and makes learning fun, while teachers appreciate their ease of use, the additional support materials and the ability to assess and track students’ learning.

A new comprehensive flagship nutrition education program for teachers and their students is set to launch: Power2BMe! will encourage seventh-grade and eighth-grade students to explore personal food choices through interactive class activities, videos and a personal online profile.  PD