June Dairy Month celebrates dairy foods and farmers

For the month of June, it’s all about dairy, dairy, dairy. But why stop there?

How did you spend the month of June? If your answer isn’t eating as many dairy foods as possible, you missed out. (Kidding—kind of.) 

But seriously: Dairy is so significant a food group that it gets its own month. Now that’s something to pay attention to. 

According to The Dairy Alliance, National Dairy Month began as a way to distribute extra milk during the warm months of summer. This dairy-forward “National Milk Month” was established in 1937 by grocer organizations who saw the importance of promoting the nutritional and cultural value of milk.

By 1939, the National Dairy Council took over promotion of the cause, and the commemoration became National Dairy Month, with June serving as the annual honorarium’s home.

Each year, National Dairy Month has a theme. The very first National Milk Month’s theme was “Keep Youthful—Drink Milk.” This year, the theme is “Dairy Runs Deep,” an ode to the rich histories of American dairy farms everywhere, particularly family-owned farms whose stewardship reaches generations into the past. Check out some American dairy farm family stories here. 

June Dairy Month is an annual opportunity to celebrate the dairy industry. It aims to promote the consumption of dairy products, recognize the contributions of dairy farmers, and accentuate the importance of dairy by educating the public about the role it plays in our nutrition, culture, economy, and history.

Sure, June Dairy Month is a fun and specified time to celebrate cows, dairy farmers, and your favorite mac and cheese rendition, but who’s to say we can’t do these things all year round? Pay tribute to your favorite local or far away dairy any day of the week however you see fit. Thanks to dairy farmers, we get ice cream. (I mean, come on!)

Read our next June Dairy Month piece to learn about some of dairy’s benefits in detail.