With the government on the verge of a shutdown and hundreds of thousands of lactose intolerant children still without nondairy options at school, the House has passed an amendment to protect chocolate and other flavored milks in schools.

In February, President Biden's administration proposed a rule that would set new nutrition standards for school meals. Unsurprisingly, this brought milk, specifically flavored milk containing lots of sugar, into question. There are many health reasons not to drink milk, let alone sugar filled milk for kids. 

Instead of focusing on the over 400,000 children in the US school system that are lactose intolerant, representatives decided to pass an amendment making sure that children still have access to sugary dairy milk. 

Sponsor of this Amendment, Representative Tiffany said, "According to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, removing flavored milk from schools resulted in a 62 to 63 percent reduction in milk consumption by kids in kindergarten through fifth grade. As well as a 50 percent reduction in fifth and sixth grade." This directly conflicts with the name of his Milk is Indisputably Liked by Kids (MILK) Act of 2023.

We would dispute this. If over 50% of kids do not drink dairy milk unless it is flavored and filled with sugar, we're going to go out on a limb and say they don't like dairy milk -- they like chocolate and other sugary flavorings. And they deserve better.

Help us fight to bring healthy, nondairy options to children in our schools! If you are able, please support FARM or even volunteer! We are so grateful for your involvement at any level.