Tag: child nutrition

Milk Serves Americans Well, Lipps Says

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

The federal government is seeking comments related to the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as it reviews the science behind healthy eating, with a plan expected next year. Dairy has always had a central role in proper nutrition, and newer science reinforces that. That doesn’t mean the process is easy, two experts said in a Dairy Defined podcast released today.

“One of the biggest distinguishing factors in this year’s advisory committee is a focus on using a health equity lens to ensure that the committee considers factors such as socioeconomic position, food security, race, and, or ethnicity and culture,” said Brandon Lipps, who during his time as USDA deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, oversaw the writing of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services. “With products like milk that have so many available nutrients, we can serve Americans so well. And we need to make sure that the committee thinks about the basics when they’re talking about that.”

Lipps, co-founder of Caprock Strategies, was joined by NMPF Director of Regulatory Affairs Miquela Hanselman in the podcast. You can find and subscribe to the Dairy Defined podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.”

Media outlets may use clips from the podcast on the condition of attribution to the National Milk Producers Federation.

1% Flavored Win Means More Work Ahead

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF celebrated a key win on school milk in February, an important step toward keeping the milk variety in meal programs more permanently.

USDA’s final rule addressing sodium, whole grain, and milk standards for school meal programs, released Feb. 7, protects the option of low-fat flavored milk for the National School Lunch program, the School Breakfast Program, the Special Milk Program, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program through the end of the 2023-24 school year.

Maintaining the low-fat flavored milk option for schools has been a lengthy battle. Since USDA removed the popular option from schools with a 2012 rule, NMPF has led advocacy efforts to reinstate low-fat flavored milk more permanently as an option for schools, including supporting Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) leadership to advance their bipartisan School Milk Nutrition Act (H.R. 4635).

“Ensuring kids have access to the nutrients they need to grow and thrive is a top priority for dairy,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern at the time of the announcement.  “We thank USDA for the rule’s provision that maintains schools’ ability to serve low-fat, 1% flavored milk. One percent flavored milk is not only fully consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, it is also a nutrient-dense, low-fat healthy option kids will choose to drink.”

Mulhern also thanked Reps. Courtney and Thompson for their long-time leadership on this issue, noting NMPF looks “forward to continuing to work with them, USDA, and others to help ensure everyone has access to nutritious food.”

NMPF plans to do just that, as the Feb. 7 rule provides transitional standards only through the 2023-24 school year. While the rule does offer schools more certainty than they had prior to the rule, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services intends to implement additional regulations governing school meals beyond the 2023-24 school year to conform meal patterns more closely to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. NMPF will continue to work both with USDA on the longer-term rule and with Congress to codify the allowance of 1% flavored milk in schools, using the new rule to add momentum to NMPF’s efforts to secure the low-fat flavored option permanently.

House Coalition Supports School Milk Options

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

As the school year ends across the country, a bipartisan coalition of 57 House members asked USDA to ensure that school children have access to low-fat flavored milk as the new school year begins in three months. NMPF worked with letter authors Reps. Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) to emphasize the importance of aligning USDA school milk regulations with the recommendations of the brand-new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), the latest of which were finalized by USDA in January.

As with past versions, the DGAs continue to recommend consumption of low-fat and fat-free milk, with allowance for limited amounts of added sugar to these and other nutrient-dense foods.  Accordingly, USDA has the ability under current law to allow schools to serve low-fat flavored milk.  After USDA removed 1% flavored products a decade ago, the option was reinstated as part of a 2018 rulemaking, which then was overturned in court last year on issues unrelated to the dairy provisions.

NMPF was able to preserve the low-fat flavored milk option for the current school year through congressional appropriations but is now working with Congress to bolster this position for the longer term. The letter helps reinforce NMPF’s message and signals that Congress will be closely watching the issue as the Senate and House prepare to take up child nutrition legislation.