By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–Thanks to a partnership between the Henry County School System nutrition department, local dairy farmers and the Dairy Alliance, Henry County High School now has new bulk milk dispensers. And that includes the popular “Moo Brew”.
Henry County High School is the first school in West Tennessee to offer dispensed (rather than carton) milk and Moo Brew. Moo Brew combines low-fat chocolate or white milk with decaf coffee concentrate and sugar free syrup for a tasty dairy treat.
School officials said research shows these methods increase the dairy intake of teens.
Henry County Schools Food Service Supervisor Karen Wilson said since the new milk dispensers were installed in the schools, “Our milk consumption among the students has really gone up. And that is what we wanted.”
Wilson and Ag Teacher Laura Moss (who is also a dairy farmer) attended a meeting with The Dairy Alliance and Wilson applied for a Dairy Alliance grant and was awarded funding to purchase the milk dispenser.
Moss said, “April 21, 2022 was the first pour of milk at an ice cold 35 degrees and that and not tasting like a cardboard carton is a potent combination.”
Comments like “This is the best milk I have ever had” and “Can we have seconds” gives Moss hope for the future milk drinkers of the county.
Wilson said, “We have two milk cabinets with three spigots each, two for chocolate milk and one for our white milk drinkers. One milk dispenser was obtained through a grant from The Dairy Alliance and the other, along with some other merchandise, was paid for by the Henry County School System Food Service.”
They had a very successful first day, serving close to 1000 cups of milk.
Wilson said as a result of the new dispensers, she also has gone back to drinking milk. “I had stopped drinking that much milk a few years ago, but that chocolate milk is really good. Really good.”
Photo: Students Aly Simmons and Josey Pettit learning from Cindy Cooper of The Dairy Alliance.