In 2024, Midwest Dairy actively sought out thought leaders in the sustainable food systems sector. Throughout the year, we participated in numerous discussions, sharing dairy’s sustainability story to build trust and encourage thought leaders to use their voices and platforms to highlight the essential work dairy farmers do every day to promote sustainability. Two sustainable nutrition thought leaders from Illinois successfully accomplished this in 2024. Here are some highlights of their efforts.
In October, Bryan Flower, the Assistant Director for Food Systems Innovation at Northern Illinois University (NIU), featured Illinois dairy farmer Andy Lenkaitis of Lenkaitis Holsteins on his podcast, Innovation Conversation, to discuss robotics in dairy farming and its impact on the food system. This podcast, presented by NIU and the Office of Innovation, aims to engage listeners in discussions with leading experts on food systems and sustainability topics. The episode highlighted how robotics and other innovative technologies are being adopted on dairy farms across the U.S. Click here to listen to the podcast episode.
Following the podcast, Flower collaborated with Dr. Courtney Gallaher, the Director of Campus Sustainability, to present to an audience of over 100 attendees at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Conference 2024 in Anaheim, California. Their presentation, titled “Regionalizing the Food System While Achieving Campus Sustainability Goals: NIU’s Edible Campus Program,” showcased the program’s impact on campus sustainability initiatives, emphasizing dairy’s role in supporting a sustainable food system.
Additionally, during a fundraiser for the Edible Campus program in October 2024, Flower discussed the dairy industry’s commitment to sustainability, highlighting the support that Midwest Dairy provides to the Edible Campus Meal Prep Program (ECMPP). Attendees received basil bookmarks and engaged in discussions about cow pots, which were included in the latest support for the ECMPP to help start seedlings for the Edible Campus garden.