Today I went to Okemos for United Dairy Industry of Michigan’s Dairy Diplomat meeting. For three years I’ve had the great fortune to share ideas and work with 16 dairy farm women on this committee. Our purpose is to share with the public the life we know as a dairy farmer and communicate how healthy and wholesome dairy products are in a daily diet.
This year, we hosted a ‘Milk-The Ultimate Sports Drink’ booth for runners at Frankenmuth’s Volkslaufe Race on July 4. Twenty five hundred runners and their families were encouraged to add chocolate milk and flavored yogurts to their post-exercise sessions. In one neat drink, milk adds carbohydrates, proteins, essential vitamins and minerals back into a body following strenuous workouts. Runners appreciated the cold milk following a 5, 10 or 20 K run. Some of the runners already knew about the benefits of milk after exercise. A few indicated high school coaches in their school districts have been including milk in post-game sessions in the locker room for a while now.
Athletes know how beneficial a healthy, balanced diet is to their well-being. Our youngest daughter, Lydia, is running cross country for Frankenmuth High School this fall. She has always loved running. This is serious running though, and every day there is after school training. I’ve observed her making better food choices the last two months. She is learning what specific foods are good fuel for an upcoming race. She has always consumed three to five servings of milk each day, but now she does so with an added sparkle in her eye. She has a firm belief that strong leg bones are essential to her success and she loves a glass of chocolate milk anytime, including after the completion of a race. So far, her personal best for the 5K run is 23 minutes, 52 seconds. Go, Lydia!
At the Saginaw County Cross Country Invitational hosted by Frankenmuth High School on October 24, our Michigan Milk Producers Frankenmuth Local and Saginaw County Farm Bureau will team up to share this message with 300 runners. It should be a fun day, hopefully it is also a gorgeous fall day in mid-Michigan. Come on out and see the kids run and enjoy a glass of chocolate milk!
