Back-to-School With Dairy Council of California!

Welcome to the back-to-school edition of Nutrition Connections: Advancing the Health of School-Age Children. This issue features valuable resources, success stories and inspiration from champions dedicated to elevating the health of children and communities through lifelong healthy eating patterns. 

Back-to-School Resources and Tools to Inspire a Healthy Year

Back-to-school is an exciting time! Whether you’re an educator, administrator, foodservice professional, community partner or parent, Dairy Council of California is here to support your efforts with science-based nutrition education resources. Explore resources to promote healthy eating patterns. 

New! Farm Tour Toolkit 

The Toolkit for Farm-To-You Tours provides step-by-step guidance to host engaging, educational farm tours that support agricultural literacy and nutrition goals. Co-created by Dairy Council of CA and the California Beef Council—with review from the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Office of Farm to Fork—this resource is designed to make every tour a meaningful experience.

Visioning Equitable and Sustainable Solutions for School Meals and Student Success

The summer edition of Poppy Seeds features highlights from Well-Nourished, Brighter Futures: Dairy Dialogue, a convening hosted by Dairy Council of CA—turn to page 10 for the story. The convening explored how collaboration across education, agriculture and health can advance equitable, sustainable school meal programs. A summary report capturing event insights and actionable strategies is available to inspire continued progress. Read the full report.

Prioritizing Health and Well-Being This School Year

As the school year ramps up, it’s easy to put personal well-being on the back burner. But caring for your health, whether as educators, foodservice professionals or community members, supports everyone’s success.

A recent study found that healthy aging is supported by foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, unsaturated fats, nuts, legumes and low-fat dairy. Start the year strong with meals that fuel wellness. Read the full study.

Staff in Action: Highlights From Summer Conferences

Dairy Council of CA team members shared insights at several national conferences across the country:

Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior International Conference (Indianapolis, Indiana, July 8–11): Dairy Council of CA and Rachel Scherr, Ph.D., led a session on creating inclusive, experience-based approaches to nutrition education.

The Wellness Conference: Connecting School, Family & Community (Anaheim, July 9–11): In partnership with Ramiro Rubalcaba, superintendent of Los Nietos School District, Dairy Council of CA showcased how local school wellness policies can improve student health, reduce absenteeism and support academic success.

2025 SNA’s Annual National Conference (San Antonio, Texas, July 13–15): Dairy Council of CA, GENYOUth and school nutrition leaders presented strategies to align school meals with physical activity and after-school programs. A second session, in collaboration with CustomEd, focused on integrating nutrition education and agricultural literacy to build healthier communities and support future food system leaders.

Connect With Dairy Council of California

Come see us at these upcoming events:

• Mediterranean Menus of Flavor (Fresno, Aug. 12 | Oakland, Aug. 14), Culinary training hosted by California Department of Education in collaboration with the Institute of Child Nutrition
• School Wellness Summit (Solvang, Sept. 16–17)
• California Agriculture in the Classroom Conference (Sacramento, Sept. 26–28) 

Let's Work Together

Have questions, ideas or want to collaborate? 

Contact Maria Frye, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Community & School Engagement Project Manager, at mfrye@dairycouncilofca.org.