220 *oalry Council Inc. 75th Anniversary “In World War I, poor nutrition was found through a physical examination system to be principally responsible for American soldiers ’ defects People had to be educated in proper nutrition prin ciples Vitamin importance was just then being recognized by research workers. Some food carriers were believed to be high in nutritive value Philadelphia Dairy Council started out to promote an increase in the con sumption of not only milk, but also very definitely of other nutritional foods (both of which are necessary for a sound nutri tional program) Milk was not to be over-emphasized Your nutrition girls are free to conduct their on n sound program without feeling that their initiative is stifled, so long as what they teach is sound and in tacit ac cordance with Dairy Council Criterion ” Mr. C. I. Cohee, Dairy Council's board president, in a talk to the staff September 8,1945 The founding of Dairy Council (origi nally called the Philadelphia Inter-State Dairy Council) was due in large part to the efforts of F P Willits, president of Inter-State Milk Producers’ Association and later Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Ag riculture In 1915, National Dairy Council had been founded in Chicago to nationally promote knowledge about the food value of dairy throughout the land It was soon discovered, however, that working only nationally was not the best way of reach ing this objective. A plan was developed that local Dairy Council units should be formed across the country to help in this 1920 s As the first step in fulfilling their nu trition education mandate, Dairy Council staff met with the superintendent of Philadelphia Schools and offered to pro \ idc a pint of free milk to undernourished children in the schools A nutritional sur vey of children in the Philadelphia Public Schools showed that there were about Dairy Council Founded In 1920 In Response To mission In some instances these units would be formed within state lines; in others it was seen as more appropriate to build them around milk markets. Within these guidelines, in 1920 Mr. Willits worked to establish a Pennsylva nia-based Dairy Council, funded through dairy farmers and distributors each pay ing one cent per hundred pounds of milk produced or purchased. Following “the milk to market,” this new organization would work throughout the tri-state area of southeastern and south central Penn sylvania. southern New Jersey, and the state of Delaware Sound health practices, revolutionary concepts in the 19205, have always been a part of Dairy Council's message. Building A Strong Relationship With t of every