Philippines Honors Land OLakes for Dairy Initiatives

ST. PAUL, Minn.Land O'Lakes International Development was awarded a presidential citation from the Philippines government for developing and implementing programs to improve childrens education and health, develop the countrys dairy industry, and increase food security and productivity.

The National Dairy Authority and the Philippines Department of Agriculture nominated Land O'Lakes International Development for the commendation, which was presented on June 28, 2010 at the presidential palace.

Since 2002 Land O'Lakes has spearheaded school nutrition programs that provide more than 168,000 children in 447 schools in areas with severe malnourishment with daily snacks of milk and biscuits. Less than 1 percent of milk in the Philippines is produced locally, which is why Land O'Lakes established dairy zones across the island of Mindanao to improve breeding and animal husbandry, access to local feed and veterinary services, expand consumer marketing, and strengthen dairy processing and quality assurance programs, in efforts that benefit approximately 118,000 people. In fact, one of the earliest dairy zones provides tens of thousands of school children with fresh milk each day.

We are enormously honored to be recognized like this by the Philippines government, particularly for our supportive role in enabling them to realize priority policies, said Tom Verdoorn, vice president of Land O'Lakes International Development. While our ultimate goal is to improve peoples lives through effective food and agriculture programs, our work is most effective when it supports country-led plans for long-term growth.