MILK FOR CHILDREN

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 114, 10 November 1934, Page 9

MILK FOR CHILDREN

THE' BRITISH SCHOOLS

HALFPENNY BOTTLE SCHEME

(From "The Post's" RsproseiHativ.-i.i LONDON, October 5. The Government and the Milk Marketing Boaid have co-operated to supply schoolchildren with one-third pint bottles of 'milk, with straws, at 4d a bottle. The scheme came into'operation this week and the Minister of Agiicultuie, Mr. Walter Elliot, visited a West Kensington school and 'sucked milk through a straw along with the children. "■ Addisrn Gardens is a London County Council elementary school, representative of many, in all paits of tho country which .have adopted' the new scheme. Tcacheis in all the departments have organised milk clubs for the benefit of the children for some years. . Up to the pic^ent the prices of, the milk has, under a scheme inaugurated by the National Milk Publicity Council, been Id a bottle. The extension of the scheme by the Milk Marketing Board is made possible by the Milk Act, 1934. All full-time schools, or courses for children or young persons recognised for grant by fho Board of Education, will be included. It applies only to milk actually consumed in schools or at approved centres. Tho sourco and quality of supply must also be approved. It is estimated that tho number of schoolchildren eligible for milk under the_ schemo »is about 6,000,000. Up to' now about 1,000,000 have been leceiving daily rations of milk in school^ It is hoped that the number will at the beginning be increased to at'least 3,000,000. ' Under tho new arrangement sales of milk to s'choolchildron will bo regarded by tho Milk Marketing Board as semiwliolesale transactions. , .'Tho price of Is a gallon 'paid by the" cnildicn will bo paid directly to the suppliers.^ The board will allow to them as distributing, costs 6d a gallon and will pay,-in addition, any difference there may be in the price received from the children and "the monthly wholesale* price of liquid milk. In the cases of producers and producer-retailers the full pool levies will be deducted. OBVIOUS COMMON SENSE. . Addressing parents and other visitois/Mr. Elliot aaid that there was no doubt that children in general would be better off as a result of tho new scheme. The teachers had most generously undertaken to see that the necessary routine operations ( were carried out and even to collect the' halfpennies. But those halfpennies would not pay for the cost of providing tho milk, so the Milk Marketing Board and the Government between them would add something. The Government were doing it because they knew that the children would benefit from drinking fresh milk, and plenty of, it. It would not help if tho children just had milk at school instead of at home. Ho wanted them to get it at school1 in addition to whatever milk they were getting { at home. Parents should let their children have as much milk at home as possible, apart from the supply they got at school, and the parents would see a great change in'their condition. ' Any children getting free milk at school were not interfered with by the new scheme. They would still hay their milk free. The scheme was a piece of obvious common sense, and was one of the good; things that had come out of the Milk Marketing Board.' ' He appealed for the co-opera-tion Of all. , r