Agri Aware and the National Dairy Council (NDC) have launched a ‘Legen-Dairy’ initiative seeking to dispel common myths about Irish dairy and dairy consumption.

The new campaign is centred around a survey for third-level students in colleges across the country, typically aged between 17 and 24 years of age.

Those who complete the survey will be in with a chance to win a skiing trip for two in the new year.

The campaign also aims to give these students access to the correct information on Irish dairy production and dairy’s essential nutritional benefits.

Speaking at the launch at the University College Dublin Student Centre, Agri Aware executive director Marcus O’Halloran said the campaign is extremely important.

“The information that Agri Aware and the NDC will be able to find out from the target age demographic on their knowledge of Irish dairy and consumption will be critical,” he said.

“These young consumers need to know the facts about Irish dairy and the importance of it to the economy, the environment and of course for their health."

Survey

The 'Legen-Dairy' survey is open for submissions until Friday 20 December.

The results of the survey will guide the organisations’ understanding of this age cohort’s attitudes towards dairy and its role in their diet.

Mark Keller of the NDC said young people are bombarded with so many messages across multiple platforms to do with their diet and wellbeing.

“Sometimes it can be hard to weed through the noise to get meaningful facts,” Keller added.

“We really want to educate young people at third level on the importance of a balanced diet, while dispelling some of the myths around dairy consumption and its links to living a healthy active life, not to mention its critical role in the socio-economic health or our economy and local communities.”