How to hold a World Milk Day event on June 1st, 2019

Since 2001, June 1st, World Milk Day has been observed by the United Nations. It was initiated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to mark the importance of dairy. World Milk Day focuses on raising public awareness about the importance of milk as part of a healthy and balanced diet and as an agricultural product. It also aims to highlight the significance of the milk sector and milk producers, in particular, the one billion people around the world who derive their livelihoods from the dairy sector. 

In 2018, World Milk Day was celebrated by over 70 countries with 586 events. Activities included fun runs, debates, milking demonstrations and farm visits, school-based activities, concerts, conferences and seminars, competitions and a range of events focusing on promoting the value of milk and illustrating the important role played by the dairy industry in the national economy. There was a large showing of support for World Milk Day by many athletes. 

World Milk Day will be celebrated again in 2019 on themes around nutrition, animal care, sustainability and livelihoods. It will be a unique moment for dairy farmers, processors and consumers around the world to show their love of milk and dairy products. The #WorldMilkDay campaign will take over social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The campaign will start at the end of May with the “Enjoy Dairy Rally” in the United States. Beginning on May 29th this American social media campaign will work to promote the nutrition, community, and enjoyment of dairy. You’ll be able to follow this campaign online following #EnjoyDairy. More details on the rally will be shared shortly. 

The fact that many countries choose to celebrate the role of dairy in our lives on the same day shows that milk is part of all diets and cultures: whether you consume milk as a breakfast drink that goes with your cereals, tea and coffee in the morning, or whether dairy products go into almost all meal preparations in the form of butter, cream or cheese.

You can contribute to this important event by organizing an event and/or by joining the global digital campaign using #WorldMilkDay. Please share your stories, moments and experiences about all the goodness of milk and all the people who produce it. 

Make sure to join the celebrations and register your event online!

How can I share my World Milk Day event with the rest of the world?

• Use the social media hashtag #WorldMilkDay at your event. 
• Capturing images of your event: Take pictures of people drinking milk and raising their glasses, post them on social media with #WorldMilkDay and email them to us after the event (milkday@emergingag.com) 
• Write about your event: You can write a blog post before and after the event sharing why you are involved in celebrating World Milk Day.
• Recording parts of your event: Any type of video content (edited and non-edited) showing what your event looks like can be posted on social media using #WorldMilkDay, or sent to us to be uploaded on social media platforms (#WorldMilkDay on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram)

Please visit http://www.worldmilkday.org/ to review the guidelines and REGISTER your event. Email us at milkday@emergingag.com if you have any questions. We can help promote your activities!

Happy World Milk Day!