With schools closed for the rest of the school year, farms are ending up with excess milk. Good news may be the country’s largest supermarket chain Kroger is donating 200,000 gallons of milk to food banks.
Kroger helping local farmers save excess milk
Kroger is directing the surplus milk to Feeding America food banks and various community organizations. That is nice thing about it for dairy farmers and families in need. Moreover, with restaurants and hotels closed, the milk would have wound up spoiled. CNN reports About 2.7 million to 3.7 million gallons of milk may be dumped per day.
Kroger’s dairy processing plants and suppliers will likely be donating one more 50,000 gallons of milk per 30 days to local food banks and community organizations. Feeding America member food banks and various partners should help Kroger to transport the gallons and half-gallons.
“With so many families affected by unemployment and food insecurity today, providing use of fresh, nutrient-rich milk hasn’t been more significant,” said Blake Thompson, chief supply chain officer, Feeding America.
Dairy farmers are seeing a decline in demand
Dairy farmers are seeing less demand as people turns to oat, rice, coconut, almond, cashew, and soy milk , which take a big chunk out of your milk market share. Milk is one of the most requested items at food banks and is usually tough to stock, according to the company’s news release.
Kroger has recently donated a combined 129,900 gallons of milk through the year. They have a partnership while using Michigan Milk Producers Association along with the Dairy Farmers of America. While Kroger is a massive grocery corporation, personal relationships between producers, supplies, and vendors will often be quite strong, because the operations definitely require cooperation in between each other. Therefore, helping farmers is actually a win-win situation for them.
Will you be a farmer, therefore have you experienced having excess milk. Share your stories inside comment section below.
