Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow on Thursday blocked a Republican senator's attempt to win quick Senate approval of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act that passed in the House on Wednesday.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, holding a glass of milk as he stood on the Senate floor, asked for unanimous consent to bring up the bill that he co-sponsors in the Senate.
“Preventable diseases will occur more frequently as a consequence of our federal government’s overreaction,” he said of the decision over a decade ago by Congress to eliminate whole milk from school meals.
“Today, we can right this wrong and bring nutritious whole milk back to our children’s lunch time,” Marshall said.
But Stabenow, D-Mich., said although she supports dairy producers and student choice, it is important school nutrition standards remain based on dietary science, “not based on which individual food products that we support or are in our states.”
USDA is currently considering comments on its proposed update of school lunch standards to incorporate the suggestions of the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans for 2020-2025. USDA has proposed to continue allowing fat-free and low-fat milk varieties with additional restrictions on added sugars.
Stabenow warned if Congress intervenes in USDA’s process, it could create an “unfortunate precedent” for departing from nutritional science when it comes to school food standards.
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A spokesperson for USDA also reiterated concerns about Congress intervening in school nutrition standards that were developed through a science-based process.
“Congress is rushing to judgment and in doing so, invites advocates for any and all products in the future to run to Congress, bypassing the science and short-circuiting public engagement. Children’s nutrition deserves better than a rush to judgement,” the USDA spokesperson said in an email to Agri-Pulse.
Dairy industry groups said they would continue to try to build Senate support for the whole milk bill.
Matt Herrick, International Dairy Foods Association senior vice president, said in an email to Agri-Pulse, “IDFA is ready to work with the Senate and its leadership to ensure smooth passage of the whole milk bill once the mechanics sort themselves out.”
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