The National Dairy Council (NDC ) and Agri Aware yesterday (Wednesday ) celebrated La Fheile Bainne on World School Milk Day with the Walsh family on their dairy farm in Oranmore.
Galway dairy farmer Henry Walsh and his son Enda opened up their farm to a number of local schools in the area to see first-hand how milk is produced on a typical Irish grass-based dairy farm.
Farming on the outskirts of Oranmore, the Walshs are strong advocates of Irish family farms and in particular Irish dairy, and this is clear when you walk onto their farm and see how they operate their productive and environmentally focused enterprise.
Henry and Enda along with NDC and Agri Aware staff took local primary school children on a journey to show how the milk that they have with their cereal in the morning is produced, processed, and packaged from grass to glass. There was also a talk on the benefits of dairy as part of following a healthy balanced diet, presented by NDC Nutritionist, Dr Mary Harrington.
Henry Walsh is a dual supplier which means he supplies milk to two Irish milk processors, Aurivo and Kerry Agri-business, representatives from both co-ops were there to showcase how they take raw milk and process it for liquid milk to drink and other nutritional dairy products such as butter and cheese – products which nourish millions of Irish and international consumers across the globe.
This celebration of Irish Dairy is not limited to schools local to Oranmore. The NDC and Agri Aware Teams are delighted to welcome primary schoolchildren from all across Ireland to join our special Live Stream Webinar on September 27. Primary schools are invited to login in to experience this live farm event from the comfort of their classroom. Information on how to sign up and register for the Webinar will be detailed shortly on the Agri Aware and NDC websites, and on their respective social channels.
Speaking on La Fheile Bainne, Chairman of Agri Aware Shay Galvin said Agri Aware was delighted to team up with the NDC for La Fheile Bainne.
“It is a super event that allows us to educate, advocate and engage with primary schoolchildren on the importance of the Irish dairy sector and show them exactly how the milk or dairy products they consume are produced to high standards.
“We were looking forward to meeting all students both in person and virtually on the day to showcase to them all that is good about Irish dairy and the important role family farms such as Henry and Enda play in producing quality sustainable food for all to enjoy.”
Mark Keller of the NDC said that this was the first year that they held a live farm event for schools on World School Milk Day.
“It is a fitting way to celebrate and educate schoolchildren both from rural from urban areas on the workings of a dairy farm – to experience where our nutritious milk comes from. It also provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the nutritional benefits of dairy and highlight to children the significant health benefits of including dairy in their diet,” he said.
