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Following a concerted, multi-year campaign to end federal rules forcing schools to place milk on student’s trays, even when they could not safely consume it, the recent passage of legislation ( S.222, Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act) in Congress has ended the 80-years-long federal school “milk mandate.”
Both Maine senators served as co-sponsors. As approved, S.222 expands the availability of plant-based milk in the National School Lunch program, such as soy, oat, or almond milk, as part of their regular cafeteria offerings, and requires schools to provide a nutritionally sound non-dairy beverage to lactose-intolerant students with a note from a parent, guardian, or licensed physician. Schools may also offer whole and 2% milk, 1% or no-fat milk.
With an estimated 40% of children in the school lunch program with some degree of lactose intolerance, mandatory distribution of milk in school lunches meant daily discomfort, wasted food or exclusion from full participation in school meals. Rates are much higher in Latino, Black and Native American children. According to USDA data, nearly 30% of milk cartons are discarded unopened each year, resulting in massive waste of milk, taxpayer dollars and disregard for the labor cows endure in production.
Our team’s work in Congress represents a huge win for the welfare of dairy cows, ending a decades-long government policy subjecting millions of cows to intensive, high-output production systems designed to meet government-driven volume rather than actual consumption.
Gina Garey
Maine State Director
Animal Wellness Action
Portland
