Say No to Flavored Milk in Our School!

Please Bring Back Plain White Milk!

Dear Mrs. Stewart,

We, the undersigned parents of Central School respectfully request that we remove sweetened, flavored milk from our students’ meal and snack program.

Drinking flavored milk at breakfast and lunch typically contributes 32 grams of added sugar daily. Added sugar intake is associated with obesity and obesity-related risk factors, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in youth. By serving flavored milk in school, we are teaching kids that pure, wholesome foods must be sweetened and processed for their consumption. These are not good lifelong habits.

While interest groups argue that the removal of flavored milk from schools could result in decreased calcium consumption, there is little evidence to date that this effect is nutritionally significant. By serving plain fresh and cold plain milk, with good marketing and with support from parents – which we will provide - we can improve our children’s nutrition right now. This is a decision that any school or district can make tomorrow.

There are many simple and innovative ways of phasing out sugary milk that can benefit students’ health while remaining financially sustainable. Many districts across America have already been successful in removing flavored milk, and the trend is growing, with large districts such as Minneapolis, MN and Los Angeles, CA announcing this change in recent weeks.

We specifically request that you invest the necessary time and effort to remove flavored milk by back-to-school this fall.

We look forward to future collaborations in building a healthier environment for our children at Central School.



Sincerely,

[Your name]