After years of endless lobbying and countless debates, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act is on the verge of becoming law. On Monday, the House overwhelmingly approved the bill by a margin of 330-99, sending it to President Donald Trump for his approval. The Senate had approved the legislation by unanimous consent on Nov. 20. Trump is expected to sign the bill in the coming days.
“It’s hard to overstate the significance of congressional passage of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act — not only because it represents major progress in improving the nourishment of American schoolkids, but also because of what it says about how persistent, long-term effort can still bring bipartisan success in Congress,” said Gregg Doud, president of the National Milk Producers Federation, in a Dec. 15 statement.
What’s in the bill?
The bill revises USDA’s requirements for milk provided by the National School Lunch Program. Currently, school milk, both flavored and unflavored, must be fat-free or low-fat. Under the terms of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, whole milk and reduced-fat milk will be permitted as well.
Milk provided by the school lunch program will also now be exempt from the 10% limit on saturated fat content that USDA requires. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the new law is a “commonsense win” for school nutrition and America’s dairy farmers.
“It restores real choices kids actually enjoy and helps ensure the next generation grows up healthy and strong,” she said in a Dec. 15 social media post. “It’s more than a policy change. It’s a practical way to promote health nationwide, support our farmers and help the next generation thrive.
A push for change
The effort to get whole milk back in schools has been a dream for Pennsylvania dairy farmer Nelson Troutman, who created the first “97 Milk” hay bale on the corner of his dairy farm.
“I am really happy. I mean, we worked on this for what, 10 years? It’s a great day,” he said.
Using a few cans of red spray paint, Troutman emblazoned a hay bale with the words “Drink Whole Milk” and “97% fat free.” He placed it on the corner of his farm for the local community to see. He wanted to spread the word that whole milk was 97% fat free, as it only contains 3.25% fat.
The publicity he got supercharged a grassroots movement to get whole milk back in schools. Volunteers created a “97 Milk” Facebook page, and advocates, including Troutman, met with lawmakers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s capital, and Washington to garner support.
“We were told by people in the state one time that we had a 2% chance to get this changed and that we should give up. But we didn’t give up,” Troutman said.
Other farmers in Pennsylvania and New York followed his lead and created their own hay bales. Troutman said he made at least 70 bales for other farmers to place on their farms. He said he keeps a journal of the bales he’s created; some have ended up on farms in the Midwest and Kentucky. One bale even ended up as far away as Alaska.
The effort got the attention of U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson of Pennsylvania, who in 2023 garnered enough support to pass a first draft of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act to allow schools to once again offer whole milk to students. Now, nearly two years later, the bill is just one signature away from becoming law.
For all the attention he’s received for his bales, Troutman said it was never about him; it was about raising a new generation of milk drinkers.
“It’ll be the kids that go home, go to a Christmas party or a picnic this summer, and say, ‘Hey Grandma, did you get milk?’” he said. “We like milk. We like whole milk, Grandma.’ And I think they’ll say to their uncles, ‘Hey, did you drink some of this? I drank that in school.’ They’re going to be our spokespeople.”
How did we get here?
In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The bill allowed USDA to set new nutrition standards for school lunches. In 2012, USDA mandated milk offered in schools must be fat-free or low-fat. These guidelines effectively eliminated whole milk from schools.
The decision was based on recommendations from, among others, the National Academy of Medicine, then known as the Institute of Medicine. Multiple studies have shown that American children should consume less saturated fat. That’s because saturated fat has been shown to raise cholesterol and increase the risk of cardiovascular problems.
Whole milk contains significantly more saturated fat than low-fat and non-fat options.
Subsequent research has raised some doubts on the health impact of whole milk versus lower-fat offerings. Some studies have concluded that whole milk leaves children less hungry, reducing their desire for unhealthy snacks.
Milk, regardless of fat content, also delivers multiple health benefits, including calcium, protein, potassium, and vitamins A, D and B12. With milk consumption down among children, some contend that re-introducing whole milk into schools will motivate more kids to drink milk and get the health benefits they may be lacking in the rest of their diet.
Suffice to say, there is still ample debate regarding the net benefits of whole milk for children. Still, there is a growing consensus that the impact of it should be viewed more through the lens of how it complements a child’s overall diet.
Impact on dairy industry
According to a recent analysis by economist Daniel Munch with the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National School Lunch Program accounts for 7.5% of U.S. fluid milk sales. Between 2008 and 2018, weekly servings per student fell 15%, with the decline accelerating to 77% after USDA’s whole-milk restrictions went into place.
Since 2010, overall U.S. milk consumption decreased by 28%. At the same time, whole-milk sales increased by 16%. According to Munch, if only 25% of schools reintroduce whole milk, annual butterfat demand could increase by 13% to 18%. A universal shift to whole milk would divert between 45 million and 66 million pounds of butter into bottled milk. That would account for about 2% to 3% of all U.S. production.
“The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act wouldn’t dramatically change overall milk use, but it targets one of the few areas where demand can grow,” Munch said. “Even modest gains in school milk sales strengthen fluid milk markets, boost butterfat utilization and improve returns to farmers.”
As of now, no clear timeline is set for when students can expect to see whole milk in schools. According to a USDA spokesperson, once Trump officially signs the legislation, the agency will work to implement the bill as soon as possible.