I remember the days that we too had milk and graham crackers as a mid-morning snack.  They persisted even through my son's gradeschool years, but the cost was up to about $2.00 week, from the 20 cents per week I remember paying.  Oh what a glorious thing it was to be allowed to be the money collector, or even the Milk Monitor.

On the one hand, I think that a protein breakfast, and protein snack mid-morning are an envaluable aid to continued concentration.  Protein is, after all, a brain food.  

On the other hand, I don't know that MILK, or a milk product, is necessarily the snack that should be served.  It is certainly the easiest all purpose healthy snack for most populations, but maybe a non-dairy snack should be altered as an alternative either just for personal preference, or for dairy-related intolerances.

 I remember encouraging my son to eat protein snacks (if not meals) about an hour before tests, in an effort to combat the almost total "blackout"   of his mind as soon as the test papers appeared.  This was at the suggestion of one of his teachers.  We could never understand how a kid who was so bright, and who could reel off the answers to questions orally presented, or  who could do really complicated maths when it wasn't a test situation, could do so poorly when it came to a written test .  It did help, a little.  (  FWIW, After years of struggling with the school system  to have special testing done -- they tested him in 3d grade point and put him in the Gifted and Talented Program, where he still did poorly for 4 more years -- in about 7th grade we learned, finally, privately, that he had a type of learning disability which was not a dyslexia, supposedly, but which still interfered with his taking in, or putting out, information in a written form.)

Sincerely,  Chanita, San Francisco



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From:   Johnston[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Friday, December 05, 1997 6:15 PM
Subject:        Milk for Schools

The following is excerpted from an article today (6/12/97) in "The Age", which is the big daily newspaper in Melbourne.
<A program to serve chilled milk to school children every morning will increase the State's milk consumption by between 4- and 5-million litres a year.
Australian Milk Marketing said the Milk for Schools program, ... is not just a marketing exercise.  ... "Students and teachers experience huge lethargy in schools at mid-morning ...lack of concentration, and with a lack of concentration comes a lack of absorption of what the classroom's trying to teach these kids.  And that's not good for our future.">
The historical background to this is that between the years 1946 and 1973 Australian state schools had a compulsory milk program - we were given a little bottle of milk each day.  It was delivered to the school in crates, and sat unrefrigerated for some time.  My memories from schools in sunny Queensland include warm milk with the cream on top.
This new program will require parents to pay 40 cents for a 200 ml bottle - 20c below retail price.  <The dairy industry will provide free fridges to schools, a recycling program, and notes for teachers on health and nutrition.>

I have to say that I don't avoid milk products - in fact I quite like them.
BUT I am concerned when a program like this is presented with the foregone conclusion that there will be positive outcomes for the children, the classes and the society.  It sounds to me like an uncontrolled experiment - without any ethical clearance. 

I am sure there are some well informed lactnetters who would like to comment on this from a nutritional, medical, and cultural perspective.  I will be interested in your comments.

Joy Johnston.