The nation’s dairy industry applauded the introduction of a bipartisan bill this week that would help reverse the decline in milk consumption in schools.
The National Milk Producers Federation and the International Dairy Foods Association say the School Milk Nutrition Act of 2017 would make permanent the administrative changes in the school lunch program proposed earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- The bill would allow schools to offer low-fat and fat-free milk, including flavored milk with no more than 150 calories per 8-ounce serving, to participants in the federal school lunch and breakfast programs.
- The bill allows individual schools and school districts to determine which milkfat varieties to offer their students.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, in one of his first official actions earlier this year, supported giving school districts the option to offer a variety of milk types as part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.