President Donald Trump recently signed the “Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act” into law, and U.S. dairy applauded the move. Kris Bousquet, the executive director of the Nebraska State Dairy Association, said this has been a long time coming.
“So, the Nebraska State Dairy Association has been a staunch advocate for the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act dating back years. I mean, I’ve been the executive director at the NSDA for eight years now, and one of my first trips to D.C. with the NSDA was to talk about whole milk back in school. And this predates me, you know, in my employment with the NSDA. This has been an issue since Michelle Obama and the Obama administration changed the parameters around school lunch.”
He said eliminating whole milk “villainized” saturated fats.
“The Science did back then, and it does right now, prove that saturated fats are good, and whole fat in dairy products, such as whole milk and full-fat products, are good for you. Your body is designed to metabolize those things, and does a dang good job of it. And I think when you give it to kids, you know the incidence of obesity and diabetes and all those things start to plummet if they drink whole milk in their youth.”
If they don’t drink milk they like at lunch, kids likely won’t make the healthiest choices.
“If they’re not drinking whole milk at lunch, then what are they drinking? They probably don’t really care for, you know, 1% milk because it just doesn’t taste as good as the full-fat stuff. At least I don’t think it does. And so, if you’re not drinking that, then you’re probably gravitating towards more of a sugary, caffeinated drink that, as a parent, I wouldn’t want my kids drinking, but likely they do. And so now you’re just adding to the health problems of these adolescents.”
He said getting this over the finish line reinforces the need for advocating for agriculture.
“You know, our farmers really take a lot of pride in doing that for the producers of Nebraska, and I know that other associations around the country do the exact same thing, and I think this shows the value in those entities. We can show somebody the science, and we can tell them that it’s a good thing, but unless you’re there all the time and continually pushing the narrative, then they have to address the situation, and I think that’s what this was. National Milk Producers, International Dairy Foods Association, and then state associations from across the country really unified around this effort.”