DAIRY specialist Farm Fresh Berhad recently organised a national-level World School Milk Day Carnival, in conjunction with the government’s School Milk Programme Session 2023/24.
This event, held on May 25 at the Mudzaffar Hotel in Melaka, saw Farm Fresh conducting competitions for aerobics exercising, choral speaking, a “Grand Prix” (involving mini racing cars made from used milk containers), and drawing and colouring, all of which offered prizes worth a total of RM27,770.
The carnival was to celebrate World School Milk Day, as part of Farm Fresh’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme to celebrate schools and students across the country.
Farm Fresh is a school milk distributor for the Ministry of Education’s School Milk Programme (PSS), involving eight states in Peninsular Malaysia.
Guest-of-honour at the day-long carnival was Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek. Also present were Farm Fresh Group Berhad chief operations officer Azmi Zainal and representatives from the ministry.
The Ministry of Education has continued the PSS in the Supplementary Food Plan (RMT) starting from May last year until next month, in an open tender to local milk manufacturers to supply milk directly to schools and primary school students receiving aid throughout the country.
Beneficiaries of the assistance consist of students from hard-core poor families, students with special educational needs and students in Asli/Penan schools.
PSS was implemented in 1983 and continues until now. Its motive in general is to instil the practice of drinking milk in addition to improving the level of nutrition and health among primary school students.
Also, with the presence of milk in the meal, this will ensure that students receive complete nutrition and a balanced diet to support the growth of children and cultivate good habits to stay healthy and fresh.
At the carnival in Melaka, Fadhlina said: “Among the Ministry of Education’s objectives in implementing this programme is to foster the practice of consuming milk or dairy products in the diet of students, especially students from low-income families. It is hoped that this will become the practice of students until they grow up so that we can form a healthy and fit generation.
“In addition to fostering the practice of drinking milk, this programme is also an effort by the Ministry of Health together with the Ministry of Education, to ensure that students in primary schools get balanced and complete nutrition for each school day. Based on this and the support of the Ministry of Health, this programme has been strengthened and will continue in 2024.”
Farm Fresh is PSS’s largest supplier of milk, involving 3,037 schools, 355,000 students and a total of 63 million boxes of milk (as of this month).
Azmi said: “Farm Fresh is very proud to once again be one of the dairy producers supporting the School Milk Programme this year. This programme targets good nutrition for students under RMT to combat the problem of malnutrition and growth stunting, to support the better growth of children. While we take care of childrens’ nutrition, this effort also helps local entrepreneurs under our Home Dealers programme. They deliver the milk to schools under the PSS all over Malaysia.”
He added that this year, Farm Fresh organises various activities that include various aspects such as arts, through choral speaking, and drawing and colouring competitions. The company also incorporates elements of sustainable environmental, social and governance (ESG) through its Farm in School programme and recycled car competitions.
“Most importantly, Farm Fresh has built 10 Multidimensional Poverty Prevention Centres that allow students to participate in tuition programmes and various other life skills activities for three days a week.”
Farm Fresh has partnered with Tetra Pak Malaysia, the milk box packaging company used by Farm Fresh, to run a recycling campaign in selected schools, by providing special recycling bins to encourage recycling practices.
Tetra Pak is also collaborating with Farm Fresh by organising a national-level Farm in School competition, by evaluating the school's creativity in creating a garden using recycled materials as well as the application of agricultural knowledge among students towards creating a love for the environment.
Azmi said this year is a historic year for Farm Fresh because the company has organised various CSR programmes with the Ministry of Education involving schools nationwide, with a CSR value of over RM2.3 million.
