National Dairy Council

On Thursday Karen Bakies, the nutrition affairs director for the American Dairy Association Mideast, came to talk with our class. She is a registered dietitian and gives many nutrition education talks to various groups. The National Dairy Council provides timely, scientific-based nutrition information to the media, physicians, dietitians, nurses, educators, consumers and others concerned about fostering a healthy lifestyle. They also administer grants to independent researchers to aid in discovery of new information about dairy foods and their important role in a healthy lifestyle. They are funded by dairy farmers, who give $0.15 for each 100lb of milk produced. There are 31,000 dairy farmers in Ohio with 83 average cows per farm. Karen talked to us about the dairy business, but also talked a lot about good communication. She gave our class many tips on understanding and engaging your audience when giving a speech. She was a very good speaker because of her knowledge of communication. The role of a nutrition professional is important in the dairy industry because it is important to educate individuals about the nutrition of dairy products and the new research that is being discovered.