World Milk Day takes place annually on 1 June. It was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to recognise the importance of milk as a global food and focus attention on milk and to publicise activities connected with milk and the dairy industry and provide an opportunity to educate the public concerning activities that are connected with the dairy sector.
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for infant mammals (including humans who are breastfed) before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother’s antibodies to its young and can reduce the risk of many diseases. It contains many other nutrient including protein and lactose. Interspecies consumption of milk is not uncommon, particularly among humans, many of whom consume the milk of other mammals.
As an agricultural product, milk is extracted from non-human mammals during or soon after pregnancy. Dairy farms produced about 730 million tonnes of milk in 2011,from 260 million dairy coWs. India is the world’s largest producer of milk, and is the leading exporter of skimmed milk powder, yet it exports few other milk products. The ever increasing rise in domestic demand for dairy products and a large demand-supply gap could lead to India being a net importer of dairy products in the future. The United States, India, China and Brazil are the world’s largest exporters of milk and milk products. China and Russia were the world’s largest importers of milk and milk products until 2016 when both countries became self-sufficient. Throughout the world, more than six billion people consume milk and milk products. Over 750 million people live in dairy farming households
World milk Day has been observed annually on June 1 each year since 2001. The day is intended to World Milk Day was first designated by the FAO in 2001. June 1 was chosen as the date because many countries were already celebrating a milk day during that time of year. The fact that many countries choose to do this on the same day lends additional importance to individual national celebrations and shows that milk is a global food.
In 2016, World Milk Day was celebrated in over 40 countries. Activities included marathons and family runs, milking demonstrations and farm visits, school-based activities, concerts, conferences and seminars, competitions and a range of events focusing on promoting the value of milk and illustrating the important role played by the dairy industry in the national economy. On June 1, 2018 and 2019 a special campaign will be carried out by the Global Dairy Platform called “Raise a Glass” under the campaign hashtag: #WorldMilkDay.
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