Cornell’s dairy has a healthy relationship with the athletics department.

Seth Berkman of the New York Times.

Cornell’s Chocolate Milk Fills Refueling Gap

ITHACA, N.Y. — Throughout the school year, Cornell’s strength and conditioning center is filled with a chorus of clanging weights and thumping rock music.

Posters in the entrance to the center instruct athletes — from nearly 300-pound offensive linemen to 5-foot-tall field hockey players — to refuel their bodies after sweat-inducing workouts.

But the suggested products are not jugs of protein powder or sports energy drinks commonly found around gyms; instead, they use locally produced eight-ounce bottles of 1 percent low-fat chocolate milk, similar to what is found in standard school lunches.

At Cornell, the benefits of having an on-campus dairy extend beyond a diverse dining hall menu with pumpkin cheesecake and Bavarian raspberry fudge ice cream flavors. Since January 2014, Cornell’s athletic department has teamed with the college of agriculture and life sciences in an effort to systematically change workout recovery habits.

“The composition of low-fat chocolate milk is probably the gold standard for a recovery beverage,” said Clint Wattenberg, Cornell’s coordinator of sports nutrition. “We don’t have to second-guess where this supplement is coming from.”