5 years ago, before I had heard of the St. Louis District Dairy Council, I sent my first born to kindergarten.  It was a big change for my family – I was sad that my baby was growing up and she was excited because she could ride the bus and make new friends.  But our lives slowly adjusted to this new rhythm. 

Then one day in September, she bounced off the bus and before I could ask how her day went, she blurted out “We adopted a cow!  Her name is Cowchita!” 

“A cow?!” I remember responding.  I know I was relatively new to this elementary school parent thing, and I went to school in the Chicagoland area, so maybe having a cow at a school was normal in St. Louis? My mind was full of questions that I rapidly fired off to my 5 year old.  How did her kindergarten class adopt a cow?  Where was it kept – on the playground?  Did they have to feed it?  Is this like a weekend class pet that I will have to take home? She looked at me like I was crazy and in a serious tone told me that this baby cow lives on the farm and is taken care of by her farmer friend.  And that was the end of the conversation.  But I still had so many questions.

Fast forward to 2018 and my start at the St. Louis District Dairy Council (SLDDC).  As I was going through orientation, I learned about all of the programs the SLDDC offers to schools throughout Missouri and Illinois.  When our program, Adopt-A-Cow, came up, it was like a lightbulb turned on from that September day in 2016.  This was the program my daughter’s kindergarten class participated in!

Adopt-A-Cow has become one of my favorite programs the SLDDC offers, and it’s not just because I have a personal connection to it.  Adopt-A-Cow allows children from all different backgrounds to connect with agriculture, to learn about dairy cows, and discover the nutritional importance of dairy in a balanced diet.  In a nutshell, teachers sign up to adopt a dairy calf – they get to select available calves from the Adoption Barn from several different farmers.  The class then gets to name the calf.  And throughout the school year, the teacher gets a monthly email from their calf’s farmer giving the class an update on their calf, what is going on around the farm, and a new picture of how big their calf has grown. 

While Adopt-A-Cow is a mostly virtual program, it has grown and developed into so much more!  As a Nutrition Educator, I have the privilege to go to select classrooms and share the program in person.  By doing activities and talking with students, I am able to create and bridge a stronger connection of farm to school.  Even though many students in the urban communities have never been on any farm, I have also found that many students in rural communities have not been on a dairy farm.  It is fun to explain what happens on a dairy farm!  And across the board, I have found that students believe that their food comes from grocery stores.  I love seeing their faces when they realize that gallon of milk, pound of butter, package of cheese, scoop of ice cream, or container of yogurt actually started from the milk produced by the dairy cows on the same farm that their calf lives and that one day, their calf will also make milk to give us high quality dairy foods to eat and drink.

As always, the Adopt-A-Cow program is free to any classroom – whether this classroom is doing in-seat learning, virtual learning, or a hybrid learning method.  We have classrooms adopt across the U.S. from coast to coast and it would be so cool to one day get an international adoption!  The Adoption Barn is open this year on August 17th and will close September 18th.  And while school may not look the same and we may be virtually visiting classrooms instead of being there in person, we promise this program will continue to deliver fun and quality education as well as put a smile on your face!

By Amanda Marsh 
Nutrition Educator