With schools closed and community meal services suspended amid the COVID-19 crisis, the need for reliable, nutritious food is even greater for thousands of families across the country.

Retail-sales as reported by Chicago-based market research firm IRI over the past three months show that consumers have reacted to the coronavirus crisis first by stocking up on dairy, then by continuing to buy milk and other products at disproportionately high levels.

In celebration of National Dairy Month, Rosemont, Ill.-based Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) and state and regional checkoff teams around the country will be showcasing dairy’s resilience and community impact during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Twenty years ago, World Milk Day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to recognize the importance of milk as a global food, as well as to celebrate the dairy sector.

The temporarily renamed milk is part of the company’s aim to give milk the attention it deserves.

June 1 was World Milk Day and in the United States, the entire month is Dairy Month. Demand for milk is great. But, as the author writes, U.S. producers should treat export markets with caution and use the profit boost as fuel for innovation here at home.