![]() ![]() Much of that research was funded by the dairy industry. Health advocacy organizations such as the American Heart Association and the Center for Science in the Public Interest oppose the bill, arguing that whole milk is bad for children’s health and that decisions on the foods and drinks schools serve should be made by health experts, not Congress.Ī growing number of studies published in recent years challenge the decades-long belief that whole milk contributes to childhood obesity. Americans still buy about four times as much whole and 2% milk as they do skim and 1%, according to National Milk Producers Federation data from IRI, a market data firm. Schools, which buy about 8% of milk, have not served whole milk for over a decade, yet the 3.25% fat milk is still the most common type of milk sold in the United States. Instead of milk, they may drink soda and other high-sugar drinks, Thompson said. Thompson and the milk lobby are concerned about milk consumption in school because if kids don’t like the taste of lower-fat milk offered in the cafeteria, they are less likely to ask their parents to buy milk or to buy it themselves when they become adults. dietary guidelines, which in turn determine what schools serve. Thompson’s bill would bypass a USDA and Department of Health and Human Services advisory committee made up of health experts that determines U.S. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.), who chairs the powerful House Agriculture Committee, considers milk a top issue, and not just because Pennsylvania is a leading dairy producer. In June, the Republican-controlled House Committee on Education & the Workforce advanced a bill that would restore the ability of schools in the program to serve whole and 2% milk, an override of USDA guidelines. New competition from oat, soy, and almond milk is taking an increasing share of the beverage market from cow’s milk. ![]() The dairy industry is also trying to stave off a Department of Agriculture proposal to ban in middle and elementary schools the type of milk that kids like best: flavored milk, often chocolate, be it low-fat or skim.Īmerica’s milk producers worry about the type of milk schools serve, amid a decades-long decline in milk sales. And their campaign is supported by a bipartisan House effort and a growing number of studies that call into question long-held beliefs about the negative health effects of whole milk. Now, lobbyists for the milk industry are pushing to bring it back. The goal was to reduce childhood obesity. ![]() In 2010, lawmakers revamped the National School Lunch Program, which led to a whole-milk ban for participating schools two years later. “It’s a bad experience for kids who are our future milk drinkers, and it’s leaving a bad taste in their mouths.”īlame Congress for the absence of full-bodied, creamy whole milk from school cafeterias. That’s because the cafeteria at his elementary school serves only skim milk and 1%, which he contends tastes too watered-down, she said. Amanda Condo works at her family’s Pennsylvania dairy farm, but her son often won’t drink milk at school. ![]()
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