The U.S. Senate has approved the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, a bill aimed at restoring access to whole and reduced-fat milk in school cafeterias while also expanding options for nutritious nondairy beverages.
Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) said, “Passage of this bipartisan bill moves us closer to ensuring students have access to the nutritious beverages they need for healthy growth. I’m proud of our collaboration to advance this commonsense solution to expand school milk options, encourage increased dairy consumption and support America’s hardworking dairy producers.”
Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) commented, “We are advancing bipartisan legislation that will improve children’s access to milk and other healthy beverages through school lunches. This legislation is good for our kids and it's good for our dairy producers — a win-win.”
The act was introduced by Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Peter Welch (D-VT), Dave McCormick (R-PA), and John Fetterman (D-PA). It allows schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to offer a wider variety of milk options—including flavored and unflavored organic or nonorganic whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, fat-free fluid milk, lactose-free fluid milk—as well as nondairy beverages that meet nutritional standards set by the USDA Secretary. The legislation also authorizes parents or legal guardians, in addition to licensed physicians, to provide written statements allowing their student to receive a nondairy substitute for fluid milk at school. Additionally, it excludes fluid milk from counting toward the requirement that saturated fat content in a school meal be less than 10 percent of total calories.
Industry stakeholders expressed strong support following the Senate vote. Michael Dykes, President and CEO of International Dairy Foods Association stated: “The long wait is nearly over! We’re closer than ever to bringing whole milk back to schools! Senate passage is a watershed moment for children’s health and for the dairy farmers, processors, parents, and nutrition advocates who have fought for decades to restore whole and 2% milk to school meals. Whole and 2% milk are wholesome, nutritious options that kids love, and today’s passage gets us one step closer to restoring them to American schools,” he said. “IDFA is deeply grateful to Sens. Roger Marshall and Peter Welch for leading the bill and to Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chair John Boozman and Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar for shepherding it through the Senate process. The bipartisan momentum behind this bill is undeniable. We look forward to working with Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, Rep. Kim Schrier and the 116 bipartisan co-sponsors in the House to advance the Senate-passed bill to the President without delay.”
Gregg Doud, President and CEO of National Milk Producers Federation added: “America's dairy farmers and their cooperatives are elated by today's Senate passage of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act and the opportunity to serve children by allowing schools to once again offer whole and reduced-fat milk under federal meal programs... We appreciate that Senators on both sides of the aisle recognize the critical role dairy plays in supporting the health and future of schoolkids... We're especially grateful to Chairman Boozman and his staff for their strong advocacy in moving this bill through committee and onto the floor. Their leadership helped make this achievement possible.”
American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall stated: “This is a win-win for kids and dairy farmers because the nutritional benefits of whole milk are now broadly known. By lifting the restrictions on whole and reduced-fat 2% milk in schools, kids have more access to important protein, calcium and vitamins. Because school milk accounts for almost 8% of fluid milk demand, it’s a significant market driver, too... Many thanks to the bipartisan leadership from Sens. Welch and Marshall as well as that from Chairman Boozman and Ranking Member Klobuchar for getting the bill across the finish line in the Senate. I urge the House to act quickly... This vote follows letters from AFBF to the president and Congress that... urged for restoration of whole milk in schools... The availability of whole milk in schools is a step toward helping the struggling agricultural economy..."
Earlier this year, after an April hearing featuring nutrition science experts as well as school food service administrators who described how increasing calcium intake among students was necessary—and emphasized how federal meal programs can help—the committee unanimously advanced this bill out of committee in June.
