Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act Advances, Bringing New Opportunities for Dairy Producers
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act earlier this week, sending the legislation to President Trump’s desk for his signature. If signed into law, the bill would mark a major change in school nutrition policy and could provide a meaningful boost for America’s dairy producers.
The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act allows schools to once again offer whole and 2% milk to students as part of the USDA reimbursable school meal program. For years, only low-fat and skim milk options were permitted in most school cafeterias, despite changing dietary science and consumer preferences.
We caught up with Bryce Trotter with the Georgia Milk Producers to learn how the bill could impact dairy farmers and student nutrition.
“The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act will allow schools to offer whole or 2% milk to students as part of the USDA reimbursable meal program.”
Trotter says the goal is to better align school offerings with what children are already consuming at home, while encouraging higher milk participation in school meal programs.
“Our hope is that we’re going to see more students choose milk in the cafeteria line, and drink more milk at school, and choose those whole or 2% options that we know they’ve been getting at home this whole time.”
Increased milk consumption could have important implications for both nutrition and the dairy industry. According to USDA data, most children are not meeting recommended dairy intake levels.
“So we’re hoping to see milk consumption among young people increase at a time when USDA says the majority of our students are not getting enough dairy in their diet. It’s a great sign of support to our producers.”
Trotter emphasized that the bill reflects years of advocacy from dairy farmers, cooperatives, and parents who wanted more flexibility and science-based choices in school nutrition programs.
“This is a grassroots initiative that dairy farmers, their cooperatives, and parents in general have been clamoring for for over a decade.”
He also highlighted the bipartisan support behind the legislation.
“And to see members of our Georgia delegation, as well as Chairman Thompson and Senator Marshall and other members of Congress really take this and run with it, it shows that we still have a tremendous amount of support for our dairy farmers, and our leaders in Washington still acknowledge that milk is an important part of our diets.”
If signed into law, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act could increase milk demand, improve student nutrition, and reinforce long-term support for dairy producers across Georgia and the nation.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.