Hail the Bovine on Cow Appreciation Day

Some New York state Holsteins

Today is Cow Appreciation Day.

According to the Days of the Year website, "It’s easy to ignore cows, or at least to forget how important they are to our food chain. Cow Appreciation Day sets out to change all of that, and to remind you just how integral cows are to our daily life."

I agree. So here's to all our bovine friends who provide us with milk, ice cream (July is National Ice Cream Month), cheese and yogurt.

On a website called Holiday Insights, it is listed that no one really knows the origin of Cow Appreciation Day. The public relations spokeswoman for Chick-fil-A, a popular chicken restaurant, also said the company has no idea how the observance began, although talk states it has been around "for a number of years, maybe even a century."

Chick-fil-A began celebrating it annual on the second Friday of July in 2006. The Atlanta-based eatery provides a free meal  (breakfast, lunch or dinner) to any customer who visits one of its 1,700-plus restaurants fully dressed as a cow.

The chain also is conducting a photo contest for Cow Appreciation Day. Participants can submit a photo in one of three categories -- Best Calf/Calves; Best Cow; and Best Herd. Prizes will be awarded. The contest is open July 12-31.

Chick-fil-A began using Cow Appreciation Day to fit in with its marketing program featuring the Chick-fil-A cows and the "Eat Mor Chikin" campaign. 

Go to http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Cows/Appreciation-Day for more information on Chick-fil-A's Cow Appreciation Day celebration.