Closeup:Fonterra Free Cows Milk Not Popular VIDEO

***UPDATE***
13/12/12
Cows milk will be promoted and given away in New Zealand schools nationwide next year :
"Research conducted by the University of Auckland has shown that children's milk consumption in the Northland community, both at school and at home, has significantly increased since the pilot began.

"We know that getting Kiwis drinking more milk is not an overnight job but we are committed to helping improve the health of our kids," said (Fonterra CEO) Mr Spierings."

UGH!


Similar to that lovable scamp "Iron Brion", a singing dancing minimum wage guy in a suit telling New Zealand school children they MUST eat New Zealand killed Cows and Sheep, our cows milk empire wants a crack at "get 'em while they're young" too!

Some great quotes in the video, from the children themselves not wanting the cows milk ("be more entertaining for the kids, put a bit of food colouring init, maybe a little more flavour?") and the principals themselves not drinking the free product!  "no, because I'm not a milk drinker!" and "it DOES taste like long life milk, because its long life milk."  And presumably long life milk doesnt taste all that great.

"Can I ask you why are you doing it, is it out of the goodness of your hearts, or is it a PR move by Fonterra to get everyone in the country drinking more milk?"

Fonterra PR "no, we want to....ITS HEALTHY FOR KIDS! Look, its WONDERFUL for kids, its nutritious...(PRACTICED PR SPIN!) Secondly, we want to see New Zealand as the dairy capital of the world.  We're the biggest exporter of milk products in the world, and at home, people arnt drinking as much milk as they used to.  And we're starting with kids, because its a long term play".

To get them hooked into adulthood! :-)

"We cant force people to drink milk" "you'd like to!" "I would like to!" "...where we've been running this pilot, already amongst the kids who've been drinking this milk, we've already seen a 20% increase in the amount of milk they're consuming out of school, so it seems to be having a really good impact."



Closeup November 21st 2012 "Fonterra Committed To Milk In Schools Despite Drop"


New Zealanders in their 50's remember when school milk was given out daily - unrefrigerated, it would be warm and by all accounts HORRIBLE, as even Fonterra Managing Director Peter McClure mentions on the above video :-) 
"they've got to put it in the fridges (provided by Fonterra....) cause you and I will both remember how milk was in our day" "UGH, yeah, the SUMMER!" (warm cows milk........gross!)



Photo and article from NZ History

The New Zealand "Dairy" industry has come under fire for the shocking state of New Zealands environment, contributing greatly to pollution in our nation.  Many New Zealanders also feel that cows milk is too expensive, so this example of suddenly giving free cows milk away to young children in schools can be seen as a PR stunt, kissing babies almost :-)






I've written before about this current schoolmilk stunt:
"After an enthusiastic take-up, some schools have seen nearly a 90 per cent decline in the number of kids receiving milk each day, with many blaming the taste of the ultra heat treated (UHT) milk.

"The kids wrote letters to Fonterra thanking them for the milk, but fewer were drinking it because of the taste it left in their mouth," said Dave Bradley, Wellsford School principal."


Fonterra's campaign website "Fonterra Milk For Schools":

"Angela Berrill, Nutritionist & Director of ABC Nutrition Ltd says:

“Milk provides a unique combination of nutrients which are essential for a child’s growth and development. The natural nutrition of milk gives children calcium for building bones and the nutrients they need for sustained energy, concentration and learning in the classroom.” "


The milk itself is "essential"?  If the milk in question is Fonterra *Cows Milk*, Rubbish!  We've challenged Fonterra before on this, and won!  They cannot claim cows milk is "essential" for New Zealanders, and I'd be pretty sure they're not allowed to run quotes claiming its "essential" either.

"The complainant said five claims on Fonterra's website about the nutritional benefits of dairy products were factually untrue - including that dairy is an "essential part of a balanced diet" and "we all need it".

The complainant referred to the Ministry of Health's nutrition guidelines, which said all essential nutrients could be obtained from a well-planned vegan diet involving no dairy products.

"Therefore dairy is not needed at any age, and is not essential or vital to a balanced, nutritious diet as claimed," they wrote.

The complainant also disputed Fonterra's claims that milk is the richest dietary source of calcium, and that no other source of calcium can be absorbed as well as dairy, pointing to green vegetables with more absorbable calcium.

Fonterra responded to the complaint, saying it would change four of its online claims - including to say dairy was "important", rather than "essential"."We can certainly get the nutrients which growing children need from a plant based diet :-)


An interesting saga! :-)