Santa might get whole milk for Christmas, but students will not; one U.S. senator stymies the bill

The battle over whole milk in public schools
will continue. (Canva photo via Farm Journal)

U.S. dairy just got a promotion followed by a demotion. The U.S. House of Representatives "overwhelmingly voted in support of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act," reports Taylor Leach of Farm Journal. "The bill revises the requirements for milk provided by the National School Lunch Program of the Department of Agriculture and permits schools to offer students whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, and fat-free flavored and unflavored milk." That was good news for the dairy industry, but once the bill got to the Senate floor, it stalled.

Whole milk and reduced-fat milk were banned from school menus in 2012, a decision the USDA based on "the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans available at the time," Leach writes. "The update included restricting school milk choices to unflavored low-fat, flavored fat-free and unflavored fat-free. Milk consumption in schools dropped significantly as a result."

Seeking to broaden dairy offerings, in 2017, the USDA changed its original decision and "allowed exemptions to school nutrition standards so they could serve flavored low-fat (1%) milk," Leach reports. "USDA implemented those standards, which were in place when the pandemic hit, and continued allowing flexibility in the program to ensure schools could offer nutritious meals amid pandemic-related supply chain issues."

After the bill's House victory, U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall tried to get "unanimous consent on the Senate floor. . . He began his speech drinking a glass of whole milk," reports Chris Clayton of Progressive Farmer. "The senator pointed out that water and milk are the only drinks allowed on the U.S. Senate floor. . . . But his effort was quickly thwarted by the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman, Sen. Debbie Stabenow."

"Stabenow said she supports the dairy industry and called the debate on whole milk 'a really important conversation,'" Clayton writes. "Still, Stabenow indicated government policy over school meals shouldn't come down to which commodity garners support among lawmakers. . . . Stabenow added USDA is in the process of updating school-meal standards." Stabenow told the floor: "Intervening in that process, I think, creates a very unfortunate precedent and will lead to other ideas and options that may be coming forward about individual products."

Since the 2012 ban, the dairy industry has used research to debunk whole milk's "unhealthy" reputation, but the ban has remained. This year, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are being updated for 2025 release, and milkfat research is under scrutiny. Alice Callahan of the New York Times recently discussed milkfat research outcomes with Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Tufts University. She reported: "Most studies on the health effects of dairy fat have failed to find any benefits of prioritizing low-fat versions over whole, Mozaffarian said, noting that what seems to be more important than the level of fat is which dairy product you choose in the first place."