It’s like a CapriSun pouch, but filled with milk instead of juice. Golden Hills Elementary School in Nebraska has made the news recently for making the switch from milk cartons to milk bags, claiming kiddos gulp down more dairy when it’s in bag form.
Milk in a bag? Excuse me? The idea seems novel to most of us in the United States, but this school actually 9isn’t doing something entirely new or earth shattering. In parts of Canada, buying your milk in bag form is the norm. Typically, Canadians buy a large 4L bag that contains three smaller bags of milk. There is even a special reusable pitcher to put the bags in to help you pour and store it.
Photo Credit: “Canadian Milk Jug” by Phil… Just Phil | CC
All this seems like a lot of work to drink some milk, but there are some draws to milk bags. Generally, bagged milk is cheaper than milk in plastic jugs or cartons—the usual methods of storage in the US. Also, since you have three sealed bags instead of one large jug, the milk stays fresh longer in the unopened bags. The food service director at Golden Hills claims that kids drink more milk if it’s bagged because they can see how much they drink, unlike in a carton. Does milk in a bag promote drinking more milk? We aren’t quite sure. But it definitely gives the kids a new way to entertain themselves at the lunch table.
Feature Photo Credit: “milk really does come in bags” by Nathalie Cone | CC
Marissa Donovan
Marissa Donovan is a former upstate New York girl living in a cheese-centric world. Although cheese is her day one, she doesn’t discriminate, as she adores all food. Similar to what Beyoncé advises, she likes food so much she put a degree on it—she’s a registered dietitian and master’s student in the nutrition communication program at Tufts. When she’s not filling her head with food info, she’s filling her belly with food and, as always, trying to bring up cheese in casual conversation.
