By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Milk Producers Assoc. (MMPA) recently donated 22,700 gallons of milk to the Food Bank Council of Michigan (FBCM) to support its statewide hunger-relief efforts. Dr. Phillip Knight, executive director of FBCM, said “it is a powerful gift.”

“We recognize that 22 percent of the children in Michigan are considered food-insecure, so that means they don’t know if they’re going to have enough food for the next time they’re hungry,” he explained. “When you think about children, you have to think about milk. Milk is the most requested item in all of our food banks across the state.

“On average, food banks are only able to give the equivalent of one gallon of milk per person per year because they just don’t have it.”

The milk will be divided among Michigan’s regional food banks, which serve more than 3,000 total pantries in the state’s 83 counties. The milk will be released to the food banks over the course of several weeks.

MMPA President and dairy farmer Ken Nobis said the cooperative’s board has supported food efforts through monetary donations for several years, and earlier this year the board approved the milk donation as a method to help combat statewide hunger as well as to support the state’s dairy producers.

“Milk production has increased dramatically in the state of Michigan and we knew we were going to have challenges finding a home for all of the milk that was going to be produced,” Nobis said.

In total, MMPA donated 200,000 pounds of milk that were processed at cost by Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc., resulting in the 22,700 gallons of 2 percent white milk. Nobis said the donation “was a lot of pieces coming together. Now that we’ve done it once, if we chose to do it again, it would be easier.

“We thought with the bountiful harvest that we are having every day, that it would be nice to share that with people in need,” he added. “There was a study done that showed that people in the income strata that the food bank serves are the people who are most likely to forego milk purchases when prices are high.

“This year’s prices were record high for the industry, so we thought we probably lost consumers who are in that category. They may not be back purchasing milk, and we thought it would be a nice gesture to give back.”

“This donation comes at a time of great need,” Knight said. “During summer vacation, thousands of Michigan students are no longer able to rely on the meal they received at school. Thanks to MMPA and Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc., food banks throughout the state will be able to provide milk to children and families in need.”

“Our dairy farmer owners are happy to make this donation to the children, seniors and families struggling with hunger in our local communities,” Nobis said. “We have been a Michigan company for 100 years, and we’re proud to continue our cooperative’s tradition of giving back. It is going to a good cause.”