Holstein cows milking at a dairy in Idaho, July 20, 2012 (Photo by Kirsten Strough/U.S. Department of Agriculture).
WASHINGTON – School cafeterias moved one step closer to consuming whole milk again after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Monday to reintroduce dairy into school lunches.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously in November and now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The bipartisan effort – which passed the House by voice vote – came after whole milk was banned from school meal programs for more than a decade as part of broader efforts to curb childhood obesity.
Under the bill, schools participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program would be able to offer “flavored and unflavored, organic or non-organic, whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, and fat-free fluid milk and lactose-free fluid milk,” as well as “non-dairy beverages that are nutritionally equivalent to fluid milk and meet nutritional standards established by the Secretary.”
The bill would also exempt milk fat from being considered saturated fat because it applies to the “allowable average saturated fat content in a meal” served in schools.
This solution allows parents and guardians, in addition to doctors, to provide a written declaration that their student will receive a dairy-free milk substitute.
Sense. GOP Roger Marshall of Kansas and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, along with Democratic Sens. Peter Welch of Vermont and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, introduced a measure in January in the Senate.
Republican Glenn “GT” Thompson of Pennsylvania and Democrat Kim Schrier of Washington state contributed appropriate legislation in the Chamber.
“An essential building block”
During Monday’s debate, Thompson, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, said the bill’s goal is to “restore students’ access to a wide range of dairy products, providing them with the nutrients they need to learn and grow.”
Thompson stated that “milk is an essential component of a well-formed and balanced diet, providing 13 essential nutrients and numerous health benefits,” but “unfortunately, outdated and outdated federal regulations have placed restrictions on the types of milk students have access to in school meals.”
Thompson pointed out that the bill “does not require any student to drink or require any school to serve whole milk” and instead “simply gives schools the flexibility to serve a wider variety of milk in the school cafeteria.”
But Republican Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House Education and Labor Committee, voiced his opposition, saying that while the bill “makes some improvements to the whole milk debate, including better options for students seeking dairy-free alternatives,” he remains “disappointed that the bill overall will make school meals less healthy.”
The Virginia Democrat said the bill “contradicts the dairy industry’s stated commitment to ensuring students have access to the healthiest dairy products” in accordance with USDA and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services dietary guidelines.
Praise for the dairy industry
The top five states for milk production in 2023 are California, Wisconsin, Idaho, Texas and New York, According to Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, celebrated the House of Representatives’ passage of the bill, which he called “a decisive victory for children’s health and the dairy community, which has been fighting for more than a decade to restore whole milk and 2% milk to our nation’s students.”
Dykes urged Trump to sign the bill so that the USDA “can begin working with state governments and school districts across the country to implement this law.”
