Dairy Council of California is a nutrition organization working together with champions to elevate the health of children and communities through lifelong healthy eating patterns.

Focusing on education, advocacy, dairy agricultural literacy and collaboration, we advance the health benefits of milk and dairy foods as part of the solution to achieving nutrition security and sustainable food systems.

Read, view or download the 2023-2024 Annual Report below.

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It has been an inspiring year here at Dairy Council of California where we celebrated many milestones and accomplishments, but most of all I am grateful for my thriving, dedicated team. This year we categorized our work into four core strategies: Dairy Agricultural Literacy, Education and Advocacy, Partnerships and Collaborations, and Thriving Organization. Below are a few examples of which I am truly proud of from each strategy.

Dairy Agricultural Literacy: We conducted several dairy farm tours where participants gained insights into the cycle of dairy production from feed management to milking and learned how the dairy industry contributes to the beef supply chain. Most importantly, attendees gained a deeper understanding of sustainable farm practices as well as how dairy provides nutritious food options for school programs and supports overall nutrition security in their communities.

Education and Advocacy: Nowadays, healthy eating patterns and nutrition cannot be talked about without including healthy food systems, which is why we have focused on sustainable nutrition—ensuring wholesome, nutrient-dense foods are accessible, affordable and culturally relevant while also preserving environmental resources and supporting local communities. In collaboration with a diverse group of partners, we facilitated a discussion on dairy’s role in sustainable nutrition and future recommendations, resulting in the Insights from the Nourishing People and Planet Dinner and Pre-Conference Tours report.  

Partnerships and Collaborations: The Let’s Eat Healthy Initiative advanced the activation of our cause through shared values and engaged partners and champions to empower healthier children, families and communities through a myriad of strategies and partnerships to meet the needs of local communities. We recognized and celebrated leaders making a positive difference in communities through nutrition, awarded community partners dedicated to adapting programs to meet local needs and created a community of practice to share promising practices through a professional learning network.

Thriving Organization: We kicked off the fiscal year with our California Department of Food and Agriculture public continuation hearing and ended with an in-depth rebranding to develop a more contemporary look and feel. Both processes had partners from various sectors, including the dairy community, public health, education, health care and academia, enthusiastically showing their strong support by submitting letters of endorsement and delivering oral testimonies. These statements of support emphasized the value Dairy Council of CA brings through our science-based nutrition education, tools, resources and exceptional team. The result of the hearing was five more years of funding from the dairy community. Our new brand, on display in this report, demonstrates Dairy Council of CA’s bold, strong, progressive and warm personality while conveying a sense of reliability, integrity, collaboration, open-mindedness, fun and tradition. 

This report further brings our cause to life and highlights how our four core strategies and key focus lenses build value for milk and dairy foods as part of healthy eating patterns while fostering authentic collaborations to meet communities where they are. On behalf of the entire Dairy Council of CA team and the board of directors, I am honored to share our 2023–2024 Annual Report. My hope is that the outcomes and impacts presented in the report demonstrate our promise to elevate health and highlight the dairy community’s commitment to nutrition and ag literacy across the Golden State. Everyone deserves access to healthy and nutritious foods, and together we can achieve nutrition security for all Californians.

Best regards,

Amy DeLisio, MPH, RDN
Chief Executive Officer, Dairy Council of California

CONTINUATION HEARING SUCCESS: 

STABLE AND STRONG FOR 105 YEARS

This year marked a pivotal moment for Dairy Council of CA as the California Department of Food and Agriculture conducted a continuation hearing—an essential process held every five years that allows the dairy community and the public to express their support for the organization’s cause and impact in CA. 

Thanks to overwhelming endorsements, Dairy Council of CA will proudly continue its work for another five years. The successful track record in these hearings reflects a legacy of sound financial stewardship and fiscal stability, reaffirming commitment to advancing the role dairy plays in healthy eating patterns, nutrition security and food systems through every chapter of the organization’s history.

MOBILE DAIRY CLASSROOM: 

BRINGING AGRICULTURE TO LIFE FOR OVER 95 YEARS 

Dairy Council of CA’s beloved Mobile Dairy Classroom (MDC) thrived this year with six dynamic instructors providing interactive educational experiences to children and adults across the state. MDC brought a working cow directly to schools and community events, allowing attendees to learn firsthand about the journey of milk from the dairy farm to the table. Emphasizing the importance of agriculture, animal care and nutrition, MDC successfully engaged students, thought leaders and community members with lessons to build value for milk and dairy foods as part of healthy eating patterns.  

MDC HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Expansion of MDC’s virtual field trips
  
• New presentations in American Sign Language and Spanish to reach diverse audiences
  
• Presentation at the California Agriculture in the Classroom Conference promoting World School Milk Day and new Let’s Eat Healthy Together: Explore Dairy resources to the teachers in attendance
  
• Attendance at AgriNation hosted by the Girl Scouts of Central California South
  
• Participation in Ag Day at the Capitol and 23 agricultural days, reaching 28,153 people
  

DISCOVER DAIRY: 

BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOUR OF A CALIFORNIA DAIRY FARM

This year, California Beef Council and Dairy Council of CA co-hosted a tour at De Snayer Dairy in Lodi where 55 future dietitians, high school students, educators and school nutrition professionals learned about sustainable agriculture and dairy’s valuable role in school nutrition. Participants observed sustainable dairy farming practices and learned about cow care and the life of a dairy farm family. Attendees explored interconnections of dairy and beef production and gained insights into how these sectors provide nutritious food options from the farm to the school cafeteria. The tour fostered dialogue, dispelled misconceptions and highlighted the importance of partnerships between agriculture and education in nourishing students’ physical and cognitive development. 

Mobile Dairy Classroom

BY THE NUMBERS

• 415,903 individuals educated, including students and community members
• 810 in-person locations
• 306 virtual field trip locations serving 17,569 students
  • 312 school districts
  • 43 counties for in-person
  • 34 counties for virtual field trips
• 69,868 MDC YouTube video views 
• 640,738 dairy agricultural literacy banner exhibit impressions at 15 county fairs

NEW RESOURCE: 

STUDENTS GO ON A FUN FOOD ADVENTURE WITH LET’S EAT HEALTHY TOGETHER: EXPLORE DAIRY

Let’s Eat Healthy Together: Explore Dairy is a new digital resource, available at no cost, that brings food education to life. It was designed by Dairy Council of CA in partnership with Lodi Unified School District, California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom and San Joaquin County Office of Education.

This resource invites students to use their senses as they take a journey of food discovery through nutrition, agriculture and cultural traditions. It complements nutrition education and farm-to-school efforts, highlighting the local, seasonal and nutritious Dairy food group through tasty pairings with fruits and vegetables. Reconnecting children with where food comes from and how it reaches the table builds appreciation for food and an understanding of the food system. 

Explore Dairy is offered in three grade-level adaptations: kindergarten–2nd grade, 3rd–5th grade and high school. Each lesson is 20–30 minutes with videos, discussion questions, tasting activities and additional extensions. 
Since its launch, the resource has been downloaded over 13,100 times, expanding digital dairy education.

CONNECTING AGRICULTURE AND NUTRITION: 

DAIRY COUNCIL OF CA ATTENDS WORLD AG EXPO

Interactive exhibits, informative presentations and personal interactions educated and engaged thousands of attendees at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California, which featured over 1,200 exhibitors and spanned 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space. Sharing the essential role of dairy in healthy, sustainable eating patterns, this outreach emphasized educational support for the agricultural community while reinforcing Dairy Council of CA’s commitment to promote health and strengthen ties within the industry.

COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE 

Dairy Council of CA launched its first series of Let’s Eat Healthy Community of Practice webinars, designed to address priority nutrition topics of interest. The webinars provided a platform for knowledge sharing, best practice exchange, networking and elevating the expertise of Let’s Eat Healthy champions. The webinars reached 400 participants and focused on the following topics: 

• Savor the Science: Functional Health Benefits of Everyday Foods.  
• Food & Nutrition Trends for Educators & Health Professionals.

100% of the webinar survey respondents reported very satisfied or satisfied with the overall content of the webinars.

TRENDS PUBLICATIONS A POINT OF DISTINCTION

For over 35 years, Dairy Council of CA’s Trends team has monitored and analyzed emerging trends in food and nutrition, ensuring its programs and resources remain science-based and relevant. The team includes experts in nutrition, health, education and communications who meet throughout the year to track, aggregate and elevate top nutrition trends. Findings provide a foundation for strategic planning and issues management and help shape two annual Trends publications, which are valuable resources to the dairy community, health professionals and educators. 

A new advisory panel of researchers, dietitians, dairy industry professionals and public health experts provided insights for the 2024 Trends for Education and Health Professionals. Additionally, 2024 Trends for the Dairy Community was offered exclusively in a digital format, with accompanying video reels posted to social media.

• 252,000+ Trends emails sent to dairy community, health and school educators and health professionals
• 9,100 Trends direct mailers sent
• 3,126 visits to the Trends web page
• 442 professionals trained in trends from publications

Nurturing Health: Equipping School Nurses With Dairy-Focused Nutrition Training

Communicating with health professionals in school settings on how nutrition can optimize student achievement is vital. Dairy Council of CA provided training to 831 school nursing staff with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on the importance of nutrition for school-age children and why dairy is an important part of a healthy eating pattern. The training included nutrition resources. 

Post-training survey results showed over 95% agree that there is value in educating others on the importance of healthy eating patterns, which include milk and dairy foods.  

COMMITTED TO ELEVATING THE HEALTH OF COMMUNITIES

CO-CREATED culturally responsive dairy-inclusive resources to support infant and toddler nutrition for Latino and African American families in partnership with the National Association of County and City Health Officials; the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine; and Boston-based BOND of Color. These dynamic partners plus local public health agencies; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; and the Child and Adult Care Food Program supported the development of resources, recipes and social media outreach.

SUPPORTED Northgate Market and the Kid Healthy Cooking up Change® program that engages high school culinary students in shaping school food, promoting healthy eating and developing culinary skills while working within the constraints of school foodservice regulations. Guided by professional chefs and mentors, the program culminated in a tasting event at Northgate Market’s headquarters that showcased students’ school meal dishes, and prizes were awarded. Collaboration with Rockview Family Farms secured a milk donation served with every meal. 

COLLABORATED with Raley’s, Legacy Health Endowment and Community Health Centers of America to celebrate the First 1,000 Days Dairy Initiative at Nob Hill Foods in the Central Valley. The event brought together community members, program participants, health care providers and media partners. Supported by a $250,000 grant from Legacy Health Endowment, the initiative offers culturally relevant nutrition resources and monthly funds for families with children ages 6 months to 2 years to purchase nutrient-dense milk and dairy products.

CO-HOSTED the California Dairy Sustainability Summit and hosted a pre-conference tour at University of California, Davis milk processing lab and bovine on-farm sustainability facility and facilitated dialogue at the Nourishing People and Planet summit dinner by Roots of Change. The summit brought together policy and regulatory leaders, academics, health professionals, processors and farmers and premiered a co-created sustainable nutrition video. 

DESIGNED an eight-week nutrition education program in collaboration with the Los Angeles Unified School District Beyond the Bell after-school program using Let’s Eat Healthy resources, reaching 14,000 K-8 students across 143 after-school sites. The program provides students with knowledge and resources to foster healthy choices that include milk and dairy foods.

AWARDED over $45,000 in community grants through the Let’s Eat Healthy Initiative to assist California schools and community-based organizations with innovative and sustainable solutions to foster healthy eating and meet local needs. Funds also support food and agricultural literacy and help make healthy, wholesome foods, including milk and dairy foods, more accessible for California communities. A total of 1,628 events/activities were implemented with 69,235 participants reached. 

CHAIRED the California Local School Wellness Policy Collaborative for the 11th year. This program provides trainings, resources and technical assistance to school wellness leaders reaching across all of California’s 944 school districts.

TRAINED nutrition professionals from Orange County Health Care Agency on the benefits of dairy foods. Partnerships extended beyond the agency to include education for Head Start food service professionals. Educational tours were conducted at Northgate Market, where Dairy Council of CA staff engaged elementary students at the dairy station to teach the value of dairy foods.

INTRODUCING A BOLD NEW REBRAND, READY FOR A BRIGHT FUTURE

Dairy Council of CA completed a strategic rebrand to visually invoke the organizational identity of knowledge, strength, innovation, growth, energy, radiance and unity. A new website and the brand’s rollout will occur in January 2025.

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS FOR A MODERN WORLD

To stay agile and efficient in a fast-paced digital-forward movement, Dairy Council of CA:

• Onboarded two new digital systems:
  • HubSpot to consolidate email marketing and social media platforms.
  • Canto software to better organize and collect digital assets.
• Developed dynamic short-form content videos for an evolving media environment.
• Digitized educational content and streamlined shipping procedures.
• Transitioned from physical servers to cloud-based solutions, significantly reducing the office footprint.

DIVERSITY CREATES OPPORTUNITY

Dairy Council of CA further embraced the principle of thriving together when everyone has a voice:

• Created virtual Mobile Dairy Classroom presentations in American Sign Language and Spanish.
• Launched Dairy Council of CA’s first press release in Spanish.
• Disseminated culturally tailored nutrition education resources for Black/Caribbean and Hispanic communities created through diverse partnerships.
• Welcomed several dietetic interns to support future professionals.
• Invested in staff training through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. 
  

WORLD SCHOOL MILK DAY 

On the last Wednesday every September, schools and organizations around the world recognize the health benefits of school milk. Dairy Council of CA partnered with schools and encouraged school milk consumption with fun activities and resources from its World School Milk Day Toolkit.

World School Milk Day Toolkit

• 2,240 content engagements
• 200 Mobile Dairy Classroom truck QR code scans 
• 100 downloads of the toolkit 

Dairy Council of CA and the Mobile Dairy Classroom received significant exposure on Sacramento’s television station KTXL Fox 40. Additionally, Dairy Council of CA’s World School Milk Day resources were prominently featured on the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) community website, amplifying our impact within the national child nutrition network.

NATIONAL DAIRY MONTH

Established in 1937, National Dairy Month in June celebrates the value that milk and dairy foods contribute to healthy, sustainable and delicious eating patterns. June is also a time to appreciate dairy farmers, highlighting the industry’s role in sustainable food production and its commitment to providing wholesome, nutritious foods to families.

• 2,394 views on National Dairy Month web page
• Dairy Council of CA radio interview for Audacy Broadcasting across six radio stations in Northern California
• "Flipping the Table” podcast episode Dairy in California: Opportunities and Challenges Today and Tomorrow

COMMUNICATIONS CREATE CONNECTIONS

• 826,475 impressions
• 31,045 impressions
• 876,876 impressions
• 391,750 YouTube Video Views 
• 731 New YouTube Subscribers  
• 11,819 Total YouTube Subscribers
• Total Page Visits 1,189,395 on DairyCouncilofCA.org and HealthyEating.org 
• Email Communications
  • 175 emails sent, with 324,000 opened
• 11 Broadcast Media Interviews (Radio, Podcasts, Television)
• 23 Press Releases and Bylined Editorials
• 59 Partner Placements

Dear Friends, Partners and Members of the Dairy Community,

As we reflect on the past year, I am again filled with immense pride and gratitude for the resilience, innovation and commitment demonstrated by everyone within the dairy community and Dairy Council of CA. The landscape of our industry continues to evolve, presenting us with both challenges and opportunities. Yet through it all, our shared vision of advancing the health and wellness of Californians through the power of dairy remains steadfast.

This year has tested our resolve in unprecedented ways. From navigating the complexities of a changing marketplace to addressing the ongoing impacts of unforeseen challenges, we have shown that the strength of our dairy community lies not just in our ability to adapt, but also in our unwavering dedication to the work we do. Our collective efforts truly shine.

For 105 years, Dairy Council of CA has stood as a beacon of nutrition education, advocating for the essential role that dairy plays in a healthy, balanced diet and nutrition security. For 95 of those years, the beloved Mobile Dairy Classroom has been a flagship program, sparking excitement in children as they engage with a dynamic, hands-on learning lab. Seeing a working cow up close deepens children’s knowledge and understanding of agriculture and the vital role of dairy in their lives. It’s truly incredible work.

As you read through this year’s Annual Report you will see that Dairy Council of CA continued to expand its reach and messaging with an exciting new brand design; embraced new technologies with its website, software and platform updates; and deepened existing connections and forged new partnerships to ensure that dairy’s message is heard, understood and applied across our state to make a positive impact in the lives of others.

The success of Dairy Council of CA is not achieved alone. It is a testament to the incredible collective work of our board, dairy farm families and processors, industry partners and the talented team at Dairy Council at CA that works on dairy’s behalf—a team of dedicated professionals in the fields of nutrition and science translation, community health, education, operations and marketing.

As we move forward, let us continue to lead with purpose and determination, knowing that the work we do today will shape the health and well-being of generations to come. Thank you for your unwavering support and dedication to dairy and Dairy Council of CA. Together, we are making a difference.

Regards,

Curt DeGroot 
Rockview Farms

Dairy Council of California Officer Team

• Amy DeLisio, Chief Executive Officer
• Matt Delgado, Operations Officer
• Ashley Rosales, Nutrition and Industry Affairs Officer
• Shannan Young, Initiatives, Education and Engagement Officer 

Board of Directors

Dairy Council of CA is a nutrition organization under the California Department of Food and Agriculture and guided by a board of directors representing California dairy farmers and processors. We would like to acknowledge and thank the following board members for their guidance and continued support during the 2023–2024 fiscal year.