The Dairy Council of California strives to help consumers make food choices that match individual values[1] and contribute to optimal health.
The organization was conceived during San Francisco Bay ferryboat commuter trips by two well-known California dairy industry leaders, Sam H. Greene and Chester Earl Gray after reading about discoveries in the field of nutrition in the early 1900s.
Two articles published in Hoards Dairyman specifically caught their attention, "The Present Situation in Nutrition" and "The Dairy Industry and Human Welfare" written by Dr. E.V.
[8] Sam H Greene was the first secretary-manager and F. J. Cummings was the first president of the newly formed California Dairy Council.
By 1922, California Dairy Council implemented a school milk service to nearly every major city in the state.
Michel would travel weekly to Los Angeles-area schools in a truck built to accommodate a live cow and teach children how milk and dairy foods were produced.
After World War II, the Dairy Council teamed with Los Angeles City Schools and hired a professional teacher to increase the program's educational impact.
[16] Beginning in the 1960s, under the direction of Doug Fisk, Manager, the Dairy Council of California developed comprehensive two-week programs designed to promote behavior change.
Nutrition lesson plans for each grade level[19] are developed with a behavior-change model and align to Common Core State Standards.