As soon as the Capitol Hill tree lighting ceremony concluded yesterday, IDFA opened its inaugural Celebration of Dairy reception to encourage members of Congress and their staffs to kick-off the holiday season with dairy treats. Nearly 300 attendees, including Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS), Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-PA) and FDA Deputy Commissioner Stephen Ostroff, came to enjoy eggnog, a variety of cheeses and a sampling of holiday ice cream flavors.

The reception was at 101 Constitution Avenue Northwest on the 9th floor terrace overlooking the U.S. Capitol building and the Capitol Hill Christmas tree.
Celebration Reception
(L to R) Jeff Kaneb of HP Hood LLC joins Michael Dykes and Cary Frye of IDFA in welcoming Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS)
and FDA Deputy Commissioner Stephen Ostroff to the reception. 

The gathering also served as a celebratory conclusion to IDFA’s successful legislative fly-in, where IDFA board members and staff met with members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, as well as Steve Censky, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Ray Starling, special assistant to President Donald Trump for agriculture, trade and food assistance. In the meetings, the executives stressed the industry’s need for improved risk management tools in the upcoming farm bill and a proactive U.S. trade agenda.

Dairy Priorities and Products

“I can’t think of a better way to end our successful December fly-in than bringing both sides of the aisle together to celebrate our shared love of cheese, eggnog and ice cream,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO. “We’re pleased to see how well both our key priorities and our delicious, member-donated foods were received on Capitol Hill.”

IDFA thanks several member companies for their generous donations to the Celebration of Dairy Event. HP Hood LLC provided the event’s eggnog, and The Ice Cream Club, Inc. provided several flavors of ice cream. Member companies donating cheese were Agropur Cooperative, Biery Cheese Co., Glanbia Nutritionals, Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc. and Pacific Cheese Co., Inc.

For more information, contact Heather Soubra, IDFA chief of staff, at hsoubra@idfa.org