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Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D. has today launched Back to School healthy eating campaigns with Kellie Harrington, Ireland’s Olympic gold medallist and School Milk and Food Dudes ambassador.

Launching the campaign at Kellie’s former primary school, St Vincent’s Girls National School, North William Street, Dublin 1, Minister McConalogue said “I am delighted to launch the Back to School Campaigns for the School Milk Scheme and the Food Dudes Programme, both of which play a key role in meeting school children’s dietary requirements in a school setting, and also encourage children to make healthier eating choices outside of school. I would urge all primary schools that are offered the opportunity to sign up to these programmes.”

Congratulating Kellie on her Olympic Gold Medal win the Minister said “Kellie is a positive and inspirational role model for school children. As a School Milk and Food Dudes ambassador, she has empowered many school children to make healthier eating choices by drinking  milk and eating more fruit and vegetables”

In a recent educational video created to support the roll out of Food Dudes and School Milk in disadvantaged schools Kellie said “A lot of my achievements are down to hard work, eating the right food and getting plenty of rest”.

The School Milk Scheme has long been recognised as one of the most convenient and affordable ways to help children meet their calcium and nutrient needs for healthy growth and development. Due to popular demand, the deadline for applications to a free milk promotion has been extended to the 15th of October. Schools that register for the scheme in the 2021/2022 school year will receive two weeks free milk for every child in the school. Schools that register for the scheme also receive free fridges to ensure that milk is served chilled and fresh as well as access to exclusive education resources and competitions. If you would like your child’s school to avail of School Milk please email The National Dairy Council at schoolmilk@ndc.ie or visit www.moocrew.ie to register your interest before the 15th October. 

The Food Dudes Programme is an award winning curriculum-linked evidence based healthy eating programme developed to encourage children to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. Now entering its 17th school year over 1.2 million school children have participated in the programme to date. For more information see www.fooddudes.ie

Note to Editor,

The School Milk Scheme is managed by the National Dairy Council and the Food Dudes Programme developed by the University of Bangor, is managed by Bord Bia.

Both the School Milk Scheme and the Food Dudes receive EU and national funding through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

ENDS