[Senate Hearing 119-055]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 119-055
LEGISLATIVE HEARING TO REVIEW S. 222,
THE WHOLE MILK FOR HEALTHY KIDS ACT, AND IMPROVING CHILDREN'S HEALTH
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,
NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
April 1, 2025
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Printed for the use of the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available on http://www.govinfo.gov/
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
60-080 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
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COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas, Chairman
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado
JONI ERNST, Iowa TINA SMITH, Minnesota
CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois
ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas CORY BOOKER, New Jersey
TOMMY TUBERVILLE, Alabama BEN RAY LUJAN, New Mexico
JAMES C. JUSTICE, West Virginia RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia
CHARLES GRASSLEY, Iowa PETER WELCH, Vermont
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota JOHN FETTERMAN, Pennsylvania
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska ADAM SCHIFF, California
JERRY MORAN, Kansas ELISSA SLOTKIN, Michigan
Fitzhugh Elder IV, Majority Staff Director
Caleb Crosswhite, Majority Chief Counsel
Jessica L. Williams, Chief Clerk
Lauren Santabar, Minority Staff Director
Chu-Yuan Hwang, Minority Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Page
Hearing:
Legislative Hearing to Review S. 222, The Whole Milk for Healthy
Kids Act, and Improving Children's Health...................... 1
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STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY SENATORS
Boozman, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from the State of Arkansas...... 1
Klobuchar, Hon. Amy, U.S. Senator from the State of Minnesota.... 2
WITNESSES
Stoody, Eve, Ph.D., Director, Nutrition Guidance and Analysis
Division, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, USDA,
Alexandria, VA................................................. 4
Ayoob, Keith, Ed.D., Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of
Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY..... 19
Byler, Krista, District Food Service Director/Chef, Union City
Area School District, Spartansburg, PA......................... 21
Dodson, Linette, Ph.D., Deputy Superintendent of School
Nutrition, Georgia Department of Education, Carrollton, GA..... 22
Gorman, Dan, Food Service Director, Montague Area Public and
North Muskegon Public Schools, Montague, MI.................... 24
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APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Stoody, Eve.................................................. 34
Ayoob, Keith................................................. 38
Byler, Krista................................................ 44
Dodson, Linette.............................................. 57
Gorman, Dan.................................................. 63
Question and Answer:
Stoody, Eve:
Written response to questions from Hon. John Boozman......... 72
Written response to questions from Hon. Amy Klobuchar........ 72
Written response to questions from Hon. John Hoeven.......... 73
Ayoob, Keith:
Written response to questions from Hon. John Hoeven.......... 74
Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet....... 74
Written response to questions from Hon. Adam Schiff.......... 75
Byler, Krista:
Written response to questions from Hon. John Hoeven.......... 76
Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet....... 76
Written response to questions from Hon. John Fetterman....... 77
Dodson, Linette:
Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet....... 78
Written response to questions from Hon. Raphael Warnock...... 79
Gorman, Dan:
Written response to questions from Hon. Michael Bennet....... 82
Written response to questions from Hon. Raphael Warnock...... 83
Written response to questions from Hon. John Fetterman....... 86
Written response to questions from Hon. Adam Schiff.......... 88
LEGISLATIVE HEARING TO REVIEW S. 222, THE WHOLE MILK FOR HEALTHY KIDS
ACT, AND IMPROVING CHILDREN'S HEALTH
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TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2025
U.S. Senate
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in Room
328A, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. John Boozman,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Boozman [presiding], Ernst, Marshall,
Tuberville, Justice, Grassley, Fischer, Klobuchar, Bennet,
Durbin, Lujan, Warnock, Welch, and Schiff.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BOOZMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF
ARKANSAS, CHAIRMAN, U.S. COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION,
AND FORESTRY
Chairman Boozman. Good morning and welcome. It is my
privilege to call this hearing to order. I would like to thank
our witnesses for taking the time out of their busy schedules
to share your expertise and perspectives on the Whole Milk for
Healthy Kids Act, S. 222.
This bill, which would permit schools to offer students
whole, reduced, low-fat, and fat-free flavored and unflavored
milk, has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in both the House
and Senate, including from many Members on this Committee.
Last Congress, the House passed this legislation by an
impressive vote of 330-99. I look forward to working with my
colleagues on this Committee to make progress on this important
bill in the Senate.
We know that America is facing an obesity challenge, and
nutrition is under a microscope. When it comes to the diet of
children, we know there are a number of health challenges
facing young students, including childhood obesity, access,
evolving nutrient science, and many others. The school meal
programs are key in addressing children's health, by providing
nutritious, balanced meals to ensure students have the fuel
they need to be successful in the classroom.
School food service directors work tirelessly to meet
nutrition standards, stay within tight budgets, and determine
what students will actually consume. There is no point in
commending ourselves for the nutritious value of school lunches
if they wind up in the trash can.
Over the years, we have seen many changes in the nutrition
standards, across many different venues. We have discussed and
debated requirements for whole grains, sodium, fruits,
vegetables, and dairy, within and outside Congress. Equally
important is the engagement from everyone working on these
programs: State and local officials, parents, teachers, and all
who are involved in supplying school meals.
Today's hearing is an excellent opportunity for us to hear
from a wide array of experts to examine the important role of
milk in school nutrition programs. We are fortunate to have a
representative from the Department of Agriculture, along with
nutrition science experts, and leaders from both State-level
and school districts with on-the-ground experience in
implementing school meal programs. I look forward to hearing
from our witnesses and putting their advice into action as we
continue this work this Congress.
I now turn to Ranking Member Klobuchar for her opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. AMY KLOBUCHAR, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF
MINNESOTA
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much. Thank you,
Chairman, for holding this hearing. Thanks to our witnesses who
have traveled to share their perspectives on child nutrition
programs, what is working, and what we can do to improve them.
I have long supported the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act--
thank you, Senator Marshall--and this hearing is an important
opportunity to underscore the importance of school nutrition
and threats to their success. Ensuring kids have access to
nutritious foods at school is a win-win, a win for kids, a win
for schools, and a win for our farmers who provide healthy and
nutritious foods.
I will note there is kind of a perfect storm going on right
now with the tariffs, which I oppose, these proposed tariffs,
with input costs, with weather, which is not in our control,
whether it floods, whether it is tornadoes, and then, of
course, with the chaos right now with cuts and with people
being terminated and then rehired, with avian flu. When I am
out there--I just did a 14-county rural tour, including several
small-town town halls with the farmers union, and I really got
a sense of where people are coming from. They are not
activists. They are regular farmers, ranchers, mostly small
farmers, and it is a lot going on.
I would just point out that as one of our witnesses today,
Mr. Gorman, has said, the funding that we put into school meals
is some of the best money that we spent. Not only do school
meal programs reduce hunger and promote learning, they also
support our local farmers and ranchers at a time when it is
probably the very worst time I have seen in decades, to step
away from that, because the economy is getting to be much more
volatile than it was a few months ago. That means people are
going to need these programs, like the SNAP program. Then you
also have the farmers and ranchers that are getting headwinds
at them on many different fronts.
Over the last decade we have made significant improvements
to child nutrition. The nutrition quality of school lunch and
school breakfast has improved, and at the same time we have
worked to streamline school meal programs. Community
eligibility has been a tremendous success, eliminating
burdensome red tape while increasing the number of schools
offering meals. In the 2023-2024 school year, nearly 48,000
schools, with 23.6 million students, participated. Community
eligibility has played a key role in allowing Minnesota to
offer meals for children. To provide meals to all kids in our
State, Minnesota chips in State funds on top of the Federal
reimbursements to allow every school to offer meals. As this
Committee looks at Federal child nutrition programs we should
ensure changes to the programs, improve them rather than take
away nutritious foods from kids across the country.
Unfortunately, schools, charities, and food banks across
the country are facing a loss of these fresh, nutritious foods
because of USDA's recent cancellation of Local Food Purchase
Agreement and Local Food for School funds. In Minnesota, for
example, schools will lose significant funding for local
commodities and farmers, like one livestock operator I heard
from, are losing critical domestic markets at the same time
when the retaliatory tariffs, as I just noted, are costing
farmers and ranchers greatly across global markets.
The cancellation of additional anti-hunger funding will
only exacerbate food insecurity. Our Federal nutrition programs
are intended to work together, addressing hunger both in school
and at home. I led my colleagues in demanding answers about the
recent cut to local emergency food providers. If local
charities and food pantries cannot meet the needs of the
growing number of food-insecure kids, school food programs will
be asked to do more to ensure our kids are not going hungry,
not less.
In the House, cuts to school meal programs through
reconciliation are on the table. As the House Agriculture
Committee's $230 billion cut, likely to nutrition programs like
SNAP, would be devastating to child nutrition. SNAP is also our
largest child nutrition program, serving 15.5 million children
in 2022. Cuts to SNAP will also have a direct impact on school
meals. Many kids participating in school meals actually do so
through SNAP, so cuts to SNAP are also cuts to school meals.
Recent proposals to cut SNAP would have kicked nearly a million
kids off child nutrition.
While we can continue to make improvements to our school
nutrition programs--and I hope we will have those discussions
in the context of a farm bill which we sorely need--we should
not ignore the progress that we have made, and we cannot
pretend that the cuts that are currently on the table will not
stop that progress dead in the tracks. I hope that we can all
agree that we should first do no harm, and then build upon what
is working.
With that I look very forward to hearing from the
witnesses. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Boozman. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar.
We will now introduce our first witness. Dr. Eve Stoody
serves as the Director of the Nutrition Guidance and Analysis
Division at the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
within the Food and Nutrition Service at USDA. Dr. Stoody has
played a key part in the development of Dietary Guidelines for
Americans, dating back to 2010, serving in roles at both the
USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services. She holds
a doctorate in nutrition from Texas Woman's University.
Again, thank you for being here this morning. Dr. Stoody,
you are now recognized for your statement.
STATEMENT OF EVE STOODY, Ph.D., DIRECTOR, NUTRITION GUIDANCE
AND ANALYSIS DIVISION, CENTER FOR NUTRITION POLICY AND
PROMOTION, USDA, ALEXANDRIA, VA
Dr. Stoody. Thank you, Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member
Klobuchar, and Members of the Committee for the opportunity to
appear before you today. It is truly an honor.
As mentioned, I am Dr. Eve Stoody, the Director of the
Nutrition Guidance and Analysis Division at the Center for
Nutrition Policy and Promotion within the Food and Nutrition
Service at USDA. I have served at USDA for over 15 years, and
have supported the development of the Dietary Guidelines since
the 2010 edition. In my current role I serve as a career
subject matter expert on the Dietary Guidelines process and
lead USDA staff in the development of the Dietary Guidelines
with our partners at HHS.
Evidence continues to support dairy as an important part of
a healthy dietary pattern, and yet, for about 90 percent of the
U.S. population, dairy intakes fall below recommendations.
Dietary intake data has shown reductions in intake over time,
which sets the stage for nutrient shortfalls, particularly for
calcium and vitamin D.
The latest edition of the Dietary Guidelines states that
healthy dietary patterns feature dairy, including milk, yogurt,
and cheese. The Dietary Guidelines also recommend that most
dairy choices should be fat-free or low-fat and with no to
little added sugars.
Dairy recommendations have been relatively consistent in
the Dietary Guidelines since the first edition in 1980, and
more recent editions have evolved to include low-lactose,
lactose-free, and soy options.
Regarding current intakes, as I mentioned, 90 percent of
the U.S. population does not meet dairy recommendations, and
intakes have been declining over time. For example, in
adolescents, dairy intake is about a half a cup lower per day
now than it was about 20 years ago.
We also have national data that describes how many
Americans report drinking milk on any given day. In
adolescents, the percent reporting drinking milk was about 75
percent in the 1970's, just under 50 percent in the early
2000's, and the most recent data suggests that about 35 percent
of adolescents report drinking milk on any given day.
USDA's school meal programs support the consumption of milk
among children. Under current school meal nutrition standards,
schools must offer a variety, at least two options of milk,
with breakfast and lunch. Schools may currently offer flavored
and unflavored low-fat, fat-free, and lactose-free milk. The
Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 would change the
permissible milk types that may be offered in school meals to
include those recommended by the current Dietary Guidelines--
fat-free and low-fat milk--to also include reduced-fat and
whole milk.
The bill would also exempt milk fat from the saturated fat
limits in school meals. Currently, more than 80 percent of
children and adolescents exceed the recommendation to limit
saturated fat intake to less than 10 percent of calories per
day. Across the life span, efforts to increase dairy intakes
would improve nutrient intakes and support overall health.
Offering dairy during school meals supports consumption
directly and can also set the stage for consuming a healthy
dietary pattern outside of school meals.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Stoody can be found on pages
34-37 in the appendix.]
Chairman Boozman. Thank you for your testimony. We will now
begin with questions. Each Member will have five minutes.
Dr. Stoody, USDA research shows that while milk consumption
has been falling across all ages for several decades, it fell
at almost twice the rate as the previous two decades from 2010
to 2019. This coincides with research finding that 90 percent
of Americans do not meet the Dietary Guidelines' recommended
dairy consumption per day. Your testimony also notes that for
all children, more dairy is consumed as higher fat versus fat-
free or low-fat versions.
Given the disconnections between the recommendations and
consumption, what was the science used to justify removing
whole and reduced-fat milk from schools?
Dr. Stoody. If possible, sir, I would like to spend just a
minute talking about what the Dietary Guidelines recommend
overall. The Dietary Guidelines--and I am referencing the 2020
edition of the Dietary Guidelines that was released in December
2020--and it recommends an overall healthy diet. That diet is
intended to have some flexibility so that it can be adapted to
reflect person preferences and individual needs.
This healthy dietary pattern includes dairy but also
includes vegetables, fruits, a variety of protein foods, and
grains, particularly whole grains.
It is also a reality that we kind of have a number of
calories that individuals should consume their diet within. As
a general statement, across the Dietary Guidelines we recommend
consuming foods from all those different food groups, and that
most of the foods consumed should have little to no added
sugars or saturated fat. That is not specific to the dairy
group but more broadly to help us to stay within those calorie
limits, just consuming less added sugars and saturated fat.
Now, for the typical American diet, as has been noted, we
are in a situation where most Americans do not meet the Dietary
Guidelines. We have a lot of children and adolescents--you
referenced the prevalence of overweight and obesity. What we
see is that in the typical American diet we do not have a lot
of room. We are consuming too many calories, too much saturated
fat, too much added sugars. We do not have a lot of room in the
diet to consume the calories and saturated fat that are found
in higher fat dairy products. At a population level, the
recommendation is to choose most dairy should be fat-free or
low-fat.
Now that does not mean within the context of a healthy diet
dairy products with higher fat content, whether that be
reduced-fat or whole milk, cannot be a part of a healthy
dietary pattern. It is really important to think about that
overall context, that overall diet that is consumed, and the
Dietary Guidelines are intended to provide that flexibility so
that different options can be chosen, based on needs and
preferences.
Chairman Boozman. Very good. Senator Klobuchar.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Stoody, there is, of course, a lot of discussion about SNAP
right now, in general. Could you talk about how participating
in programs like SNAP or Medicaid--this is going to be right in
front of us in the next few weeks--is linked to school meals?
Dr. Stoody. I totally understand and appreciate the
question. I am really here in my capacity to speak to subject
matter expertise in the Dietary Guidelines. I do not have
information related to that specific question, but we are happy
to bring that back to FNS to provide a response.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Very good. You have been a
nutrition scientist for a long time. Can you please explain how
school meals have improved in recent years as well as in areas
where there is need for growth?
Dr. Stoody. Yes. The National School Lunch Act requires
USDA to develop school meal nutrition standards that are
consistent with the goals of the Dietary Guidelines. Over the
years, USDA has worked to further align school meals with the
Dietary Guidelines, and we have seen great progress in
improvement and nutritional quality.
Research does show that for most children school meals are
the healthiest meals that they consume in a day. We have this
tool called the Health Eating Index that assesses how well a
package of food aligns with the Dietary Guidelines. It has a
score from 0 to 100. When we look at general consumption in the
U.S., the HEI score in the U.S. is about a 56 out of 100,
indicating we have a lot of room for improvement. Within school
meals, the HEI score is between 79 and 81, which means school
meals are more consistent with the Dietary Guidelines, and we
have seen great improvement in various aspects of the school
meals over time.
Senator Klobuchar. You went over dairy and how important it
is and how kids are not getting enough of it. Could you talk
about the fact that dairy does provide a really important part
in school meals, and is there evidence that school meals do
help promote dairy, because people get exposed to drinking
milk, kids get exposed?
Dr. Stoody. Of course, yes. Providing dairy in the school
setting impacts intakes directly right there, and we do have
evidence that school meals, as I mentioned, are the healthiest
meals that kids are consuming in a day. I can take that back to
give more specific statistics, but we certainly do have
evidence that offering it, providing it, does promote
consumption.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Thank you. Is USDA's position that
fruits and vegetables are a critical part of a healthy diet?
Dr. Stoody. Yes.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay, good. I agree. Great. For the
record, I want to point out that USDA's canceling the Local
Foods Purchase Assistance are contrary to that advice. USDA's
own data shows that 56 percent of the funds from that program
went to buying produce, by far the largest purchase category. I
am really concerned about that, because if we want to promote
fruits and vegetables, that cancellation, to me, just shows the
opposite.
Do you want to comment at all on that?
Dr. Stoody. I cannot comment on that directly, but we are
happy to bring that back to the Department.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. I appreciate that. Last, how can
we encourage more consumption of nutritious dairy foods like
milk, yogurt, and cheese?
Dr. Stoody. Offering it in school meals, incorporating it
into programs across settings and sectors in all that we do.
All of us have a role to play in promoting healthy choices,
healthy outcomes, and healthy children. I think it is a broad--
it is not just a one place. It is across settings and sectors
where we need to make that a priority.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Chairman Boozman. Senator Tuberville.
Senator Tuberville. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you,
Doctor, for being here today. My former profession was working
with students and kids. I traveled to hundreds and hundreds of
high schools across the country, in all 50 States. I ate at
lunchrooms, and the food in most of them were atrocious. In
2010, we basically did away with milk, for some reason. I
cannot imagine.
I have got a new granddaughter. My daughter-in-law is
breastfeeding. We looked at the formula that we could have been
feeding my new granddaughter. If we want to do away with
something, we do away with that, because it is nothing but
sugar. We are going to look at something that is so important
to our kids growing up and their physical attributes of growing
up to an adult, we are looking at the possibility of milk being
detrimental. It is mind-boggling to me, but I guess there are a
lot more smarter people than me.
You know, I used to have a training table for players. All
of our athletes, and you could put milk, you could put tea, you
put water out there, they would drink the milk--athletes. There
is a reason that they look a lot better than a lot of our kids
nowadays. At the end of the day we have to make a decision what
is better. I cannot believe we are even getting involved in
this.
Science improves and changes over time. We know that. Our
nutrition standards should not be what they were in 2010. They
have to change, have to change, as nutrition science data has
changed. Can you discuss the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory
Committee's conclusions on dairy consumption's effect on
children?
Dr. Stoody. Just to clarify, just to make sure I heard you
correctly, you were referencing the 2025 Dietary Guidelines
Advisory Committee?
Senator Tuberville. Yes, ma'am.
Dr. Stoody. Thank you. The 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory
Committee did an extensive review. They are convened as an
external advisory committee, and the 2025 committee had 20
members. They did an extensive review on all aspects of the
diet, including dairy--data analysis, a number of systematic
reviews, and food pattern modeling.
At the end of the day they looked at a lot of new evidence.
There is evidence that is looking at food sources of saturated
fats, so dairy that has different amounts of saturated fat,
these different types that are exactly the conversation today.
They also did a number of food pattern modeling analyses, and
what that does is looks to what happens if you change the
amount of dairy in a pattern.
At the end of the day, they found that you cannot reduce
the amount of dairy in a dietary pattern, that the amount that
is recommended still holds, and that is in large part because
of all the nutrients that dairy provides. It is a good source,
and the major source of calcium, vitamin D, and about a dozen
other nutrients in the diet.
At the end of the day, their recommendations to the
Departments, and I will note that is advice to the Departments
for informing the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines, their
advice was to maintain the current guidance.
Now, we are at a point, and Secretaries Rollins and Kennedy
have acknowledged their commitment to supporting the
development of the Dietary Guidelines to be released later this
year, and they have also discussed doing a line-by-line review
of the Committee's report and basing the next edition of the
Dietary Guidelines on science.
I expect there will be a lot more discussion related to the
topic of dairy as well as other aspects of the diet. At the end
of the day, I think the 2025 Committee continued to emphasize
the importance of dairy in a healthy dietary pattern.
Senator Tuberville. At the end of the day, do not you agree
that any milk--2 percent, whole milk--is much better for our
kids growing up than soda?
Dr. Stoody. Yes. I think the point of the Dietary
Guidelines is that there is flexibility. There are a number of
different options within the dairy food group, and whether that
be fat-free, low-fat, reduced-fat, whole milk, it is important
to make selections that are right, that support individual
needs and preferences, and in that context of the larger
dietary pattern.
Senator Tuberville. Thank you.
Senator Klobuchar. [Presiding.] Senator Bennet.
Senator Bennet. Thank you very much, Senator Klobuchar, our
Ranking Member, and thanks to all of you for having this
hearing. Thank you for your testimony today. Before I came to
the Senate I was the Superintendent of Schools in Denver, as
you may know, and in that job learned firsthand how important
access to nutrition is through school meals and other USDA
programs, how they directly affect our kids' ability to learn,
for all the reasons the Senator from Alabama was talking about.
Expanding access to nutrition programs and improving those
programs is critical, not just for our kids but for people of
all ages. It is why yesterday I filed the Hot Foods Act again
to cut red tape in SNAP and to help working families, single
parents, people with disabilities, and seniors put nutritious
meals on the table. I look forward to hearing your thoughts
about that as the legislation develops, to see how we can
improve our program access, strengthen child nutrition, and
make sure that we are knocking down barriers to accessing food.
The Chairman is not here, but he and I have worked for a
long time together to make sure that the school calendar does
not affect that, and that there is the opportunity for kids to
be able to get the food no matter where they are, and do it
during the summer, as well as when school is in session, which
is so important.
I want to thank you, Dr. Stoody, for your testimony and for
your work at USDA. During the 2023-2024 school year, schools
across Colorado served approximately 184,000 breakfasts and
over 435,000 lunches daily, underscoring the significant role
these programs play. Programs like SNAP and meal service
options like the Community Eligibility Provision work in tandem
to help ensure students can have access to these meals, as I
was saying. SNAP supports families to help meet their
nutritional needs and helps ensure that more children have
consistent access to healthy food options, including at school.
CEP leverages SNAP, as you know, to allow eligible schools to
offer free breakfast and lunch to all students.
I come to my question. Providing free breakfast and lunch
to all students has been proven to increase access to
nutritional meals, make sure that kids eat those nutritious
meals. It cuts red tape for families. What implications would
losing access to meals do to changes in SNAP or the Community
Eligibility Provision have on our ability to meet these
nutritional goals, would you say?
Dr. Stoody. Yes, thank you for that question. I appreciate
your discussion around the broad range of programs. Again, I am
here in my capacity related to the Dietary Guidelines. FNS does
offer the programs that you reference, and we are happy to take
that back and provide a response related to the broader program
implementation.
Senator Bennet. Well, could you talk a little bit more
about--I mean, what is the importance to our national
commitment to kids being able to get the nutrition that they
need?
Dr. Stoody. Yes, I think we all agree that it is important
for children, adolescents, adults to eat healthy foods and to
improve health. I think there is definitely a commitment, an
important aspect to promoting healthy consumption in kids.
Senator Bennet. All right. I have got one other question,
but I will submit it for the record. Thank you very much for
being here.
Senator Klobuchar. Senator Grassley.
Senator Grassley. Thank you, Senator Klobuchar. Dr. Stoody,
thank you for your testimony. You spoke recently in your
testimony about the decline of dairy consumption. The Dietary
Guidelines for Americans has limited the option of milk offered
in schools. Now for years, in the most recent guidelines,
higher-fat milk was cited to have favorable growth in body
composition while reducing childhood obesity. The more
restrictive school lunches are, the higher childhood obesity
rates have become.
My first question to you, during your years at USDA there
has been a decrease in milk consumption. Do you think that that
decline has had a positive effect on children's health?
Dr. Stoody. No. Obviously, we want to promote the
consumption of a diet that aligns with the Dietary Guidelines,
and that is across the board, all the different food groups,
including dairy. It is of great concern, I think, that
consumption has been declining. I think these conversations are
very important on how to promote healthier consumption. No, it
is obviously of great concern that dietary consumption has
worsened over time, and we are seeing that increased prevalence
of overweight and obesity, increased prevalence of pre diabetes
in children and adolescents.
Senator Grassley. Then, last, do you think that continuing
to restrict full-fat milk options will change the decline in
milk consumption?
Dr. Stoody. I do not have data to speak to. As has been
mentioned in the written testimony, we do acknowledge there is
data from our colleagues at USDA's Agricultural Research
Service that speaks to the most commonly consumed forms of
dairy. We do see that reduced-fat milk is the most commonly
consumed, followed by whole milk, then low-fat, then skim milk.
Across all types of milk, consumption is too low.
The good thing about dairy, I think, is that there are a
variety of options to fit different needs and preferences, and
whatever that option is that is right for the individual child,
whatever that option is, we need to work to improve current
consumptions.
Senator Grassley. Mr. Chairman, I will yield back my time.
Senator Klobuchar. Very good. Senator Durbin is up next.
Senator Durbin. Thanks, Senator Klobuchar. I took an
interest in school lunches and started looking in my State at
what the kids are eating. I went to Roberto Clementi High
School in Chicago, an inner-city school, largely African
American and Hispanic, and I asked them, ``What do the kids eat
for breakfast?'' They said, ``Oh, the most popular breakfast
here are a bag of Flaming Hots and a pop, an orange pop.'' That
would be what they pick up at the store on the way to school.
I also went to Westinghouse High School, which is on the
west side, and a beautiful school, and asked to sit down with
school lunch. They did not particularly want me to do that but
I did anyway. The menu that day featured corn dogs, which is,
we believe, the source of all life in the Midwest----
[Laughter.]
Senator Durbin [continuing]. pizza, and for vegetables,
french fries. That was the lunch.
I also have paid close attention, as I hope my colleagues
have, of the trash cans in the lunchroom and what is being
thrown away by the students. It is entirely too damn much food
being thrown away, to start with. I often wondered, we can give
speeches and do our analysis in Washington, but the bottom line
is what will those kids eat during the course of a school
lunch. Bottom line.
I look at this controversy, and I suppose it is a
controversy as to whether whole milk should be allowed,
required in school lunch. Your background, I take it, is in
nutrition. You are referred to as Doctor, as I saw. Is that
correct, the Ph.D.?
Dr. Stoody. Yes, sir.
Senator Durbin. Good. I am sure you are qualified. I am
also sure that we are always asking the question when it comes
to nutrition: too much fat, too much sugar, too much sodium.
Aren't those the three things we kind of boil the conversation
down to?
Dr. Stoody. Yes. Those are key components that we look at.
Senator Durbin. Let me ask you a question. I know where
Senator Marshall is coming from. He is the original milkman in
the Senate Agriculture Committee, and proud of it. I just have
to ask this. I look at the groups that oppose this bill, and
they include the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, American
Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association, the
American Public Health Association, the Center for Science in
the Public Interest, the National Association of Pediatric
Nurse Practitioners, National WIC Association. Do you know any
major health groups that support this bill?
Dr. Stoody. I do not have information to that regard.
Senator Durbin. Okay. I would be interested in that.
Has any survey been done about kids, whether they will
accept two percent milk the same as whole milk, or if they have
a preference for skim milk or whole milk or two percent?
Dr. Stoody. We do not have data on preference directly,
just data on what is currently consumed. The most commonly
consumed is two percent, followed by whole, then low-fat and
fat-free. We do have data that across the board current
consumptions need to increase. Whatever the form is, we need to
have greater consumption of dairy.
Senator Durbin. Did you use the figure 35 percent
consumption for a certain group of teenagers, I guess it is?
Dr. Stoody. Using the most recent data, about 35 percent of
adolescents consume fluid milk on any given day.
Senator Durbin. I will tell you, I am just amazed it is
that high. I really am. When you consider all the advertising
for all the pop and soda and sweet drinks that these kids are
exposed to during the course of their lives, and the
advertising for milk is virtually zero, as I see it. I think we
need much more milk consumption. Moving in the direction of
those soda and pop drinks, it certainly cannot be good for
kids, for their teeth or their health.
Thank you. I yield.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator Durbin.
Senator Marshall.
Senator Marshall. Well, thank you, Ranking Member
Klobuchar, and thank you, Senator Boozman, for allowing us to
have this. If you could just spare me a moment here, I have got
to clear my throat a little bit.
[Pause.]
Senator Marshall. There. I can speak better now.
You know, we all came to Congress with a reason, and I sat
down on my first day and had a list of 10 things I wanted to do
when I got here--you know, save the world, save Medicare, save
Medicaid, balance the budget, and get whole milk back in
school. This is a great day for us to have a hearing on this,
and I do appreciate the Members of the Agriculture Committee
coming here and having this discussion, as well.
I think about whole milk growing up, where my grandparents
delivered milk to us two or three times a week, and it was just
part of our diet, part of a healthy diet, and how important
whole milk is. You think about the MAHA movement--the Make
America Healthy Again movement--it is about whole foods, and I
think we could characterize whole milk as part of that MAHA
movement, as well. I think about the fat-soluble vitamins,
which are so important, that we have to have some fat in our
body to absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K.
Maybe we will just talk about, you know, there are bad
fats, there are good fats, and ask Dr. Stoody a little bit
about, what are the good fats? What are the good things in
whole milk that separate it from the one percent and the lesser
fat parts of milk?
Dr. Stoody. First I do want to note the Dietary Guidelines
do not say that whole milk is a bad food to consume. It does
say that, in general, considering what current consumptions are
in the U.S., considering current health status of children and
adolescents, generally most children should increase
consumption, and probably the best way to do that is through
lower-fat options.
For those who eat a healthy diet, for those who are active,
as you mentioned athletes, whole milk can be a great option. It
really is thinking about the overall context of the diet rather
than kind of saying one food is good or bad. Dairy is a healthy
choice, but it really matters what you are eating with that
dairy.
Senator Marshall. Well, I mean, just talk a little bit more
about healthy fats. Some of the good things about these healthy
fats is it helps with hormone production, so think about
adolescents going through puberty, those types of things. There
are good fats that help with that hormone production. Also I
think there are good studies that show that healthy fats also
decrease your appetite for later, that it has some satiety
impact. Would you agree or expand on those thoughts?
Dr. Stoody. I am aware of that research. We have not
addressed it directly in the Dietary Guidelines, but I am aware
of the research that you are referencing. Yes.
Senator Marshall. Then you also agree with me that whole
milk has small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which support
brain health, and inflammation it controls, as well.
Dr. Stoody. Yes. The Dietary Guidelines actually recommend,
for those one to two years of age, that plain whole milk be the
type of dairy that is consumed, because of the importance of
whole milk to supporting brain development. Then after that
point, the recommendation is to move toward lower fat. There is
a bit of an evidence gap as to exactly when that transition to
lower-fat options might be most beneficial, but there are
definitely benefits of plain whole milk, particularly in young
children, to supporting brain development.
Senator Marshall. Association does not necessarily
determine cause, but I think as we saw whole milk come off of
the school lunch menus we also saw consumption of milk come
down consistently. Senator Durbin makes a good point about it
has to taste good. I do not know that I am aware of any good
studies either proving my point. Certainly it seems to me that
whole milk tastes a whole lot better, and that we have seen
milk consumption go down when whole milk was taken out of the
school lunches. Would that be accurate?
Dr. Stoody. I do not have data for specifically school
meals and what has happened since, for example, the 2010, 2012,
when it moved toward just low-fat and fat-free. We do see that,
as you mentioned, at the national level. We see that milk
consumption really--you know, drinking fluid milk started to
decline in the early 2000's, and it has continued to decline. I
think it is very concerning that current consumption in
adolescents is about half a cup lower per day than it was two
decades ago.
Senator Marshall. Great. I want to make one more point. I
was going to save this question for one of the other witnesses
but I still want to make the point about my concern about
osteoporosis and osteopenia, that bone mass density peaks
around age 28. What we are seeing now is a generation of people
reaching that age that did not drink milk, and their bone mass,
bone density is down a standard deviation. Maybe it is more
than that.
While today most women start developing osteopenia--and
when you reach that peak bone mass at age 28, the rest of our
life, that aging process starts. It is really hard to build
bone mass beyond that. We are going to have women develop
osteopenia, osteoporosis a decade sooner, and we are going to
see men suddenly also have osteopenia, as well.
One thing I cannot believe I forgot to do was to thank
Senator Welch for his leadership in this, on this bill,
Senators Fetterman, Gillibrand, Slotkin, King, McCormick,
Grassley, Hyde-Smith, Risch, Crapo, Ernst, and Collins for
helping to support this, as well. Senator Welch, just basically
thank you for your leadership. Vermont is known as a great milk
State.
We will have to come back later to catch the thoughts on
osteopenia and osteoporosis. I am way past my time. Thank you,
Ranking Member.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Then next up, well, we have two Senators who have a lot of cows
in their State. Even though Vermont may be most identified with
it, I think Senator Schiff was here first. Senator Schiff.
Senator Schiff. Thank you, Chairman and Ranking Member.
Thanks for holding this hearing today, and Dr. Stoody, thank
you for being here. It is nice, as an Adam, to be in the
presence of another Eve. My wife is Eve also, by the way.
Before we get to questions about the bill, as we speak, my
colleagues on the other side of the aisle are drafting a bill
that would eliminate school meal programs for millions of kids.
That bill may come into the Senate as soon as this week. The
bill that is the prime focus of this hearing deserves
attention, but I do not see how we can discuss children's
health and nutrition without acknowledging the important role
of Federally funded school meal programs that are literally a
lifeline for so many kids. I asked some of the school districts
in California to send me their experiences, and let me just
read one that highlights the importance of our support for
school meal programs.
``I was in the cafeteria and a second-grade class was
boarding the bus for a field trip. The teacher had told all the
students to bring your lunch because we will not be able to go
to the cafeteria today, figuring everyone had food at home, at
this school on the right side of town. Lucy came to the
cafeteria at 9:30, as they were boarding the bus, to ask for
something to drink because daddy did not have anything to drink
at home. When we checked what Lucy did have, she had a small
bag of Fritos and two pieces of leftover Halloween candy. I
asked Lucy where her lunch was, and she looked at the ground
and said, `The teacher said we won't be back in time for lunch
and this is all we have at home.' Lucy relies on school lunch,
even on the good side of town, even when no one realizes she
does. Children suffer in silence, even on the good side of town
in the middle of affluence. I seriously cry every time I tell
this story and think of her face.''
That is a good illustration of what will be at stake on the
floor this week with proposals to make massive cuts to the
school meal programs.
Let me turn to the question I have about this bill, and my
question revolves around the absence of any alternative that
involves non-dairy alternatives in the bill. In California and
many States represented by Members of the Committee, there are
millions of students who are lactose intolerant or have adverse
reactions to dairy. Lactose-free milk is not always a good
option because of their cost to schools and because some kids
cannot drink milk due to sensitivity to milk proteins. Some
kids simply want a non-dairy option. At the same time,
requiring a formal written note for an alternative due to
inability to drink milk is an unnecessary bit of red tape for
students and parents.
If this bill is about giving children access to nutritious
options, would it improve health outcomes as well as parent and
student sense of choice, to have easy access to non-dairy
alternatives for kids?
Dr. Stoody. Thank you for that question. I can speak first
to the Dietary Guidelines and what it recommends related to
what is included within the dairy food group. The dairy food
group within the Dietary Guidelines does include a variety of
different cow milk options, and it also includes soy milk and
soy yogurt as alternatives. I say alternatives but they are
literally within the food group.
I think that your question about their uses within school
meals might be a great question for the next panel. I know we
also have data on that within FNS. I can say within the Dietary
Guidelines themselves soy milk is provided as within the dairy
group, and it can certainly be a healthy way to meet dairy
recommendations.
Senator Schiff. Well, along those lines, do you see any
reason for authorizing schools to offer whole milk on the lunch
line but not fortified soy milk, from a nutritional point of
view?
Dr. Stoody. From a nutritional point of view, cow's milk
and soy milk are included in the same group and provide very
similar nutrient compositions.
Senator Schiff. Okay. Thank you. This is not a denigration
of the bill, which I supported in the House, but it is a call
to include non-dairy alternatives, as well. With that I yield
back.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator Schiff.
Senator Justice.
Senator Justice. Thank you so much. Let me just say a few
things about the State of West Virginia. Just think about this
just for a second. I am a coach. I am with the kids all the
time, and I have been that way forever more. Probably that is
why I have got all this white hair. I am really only 46 years
old.
[Laughter.]
Senator Justice. When you have coached as many games as I
have coached, and I have coached 1,300-some games, and with all
that being said, you get white hair pretty easily. You get
white hair a lot easier if you just absolutely are there with
the kids and you see what they are going through.
You know, if you think in West Virginia one out of every
five kids faces food insecurity every single day, it is sad
beyond belief. You know, when I was the Governor in West
Virginia we made a real priority to try to some way, somehow,
do something about hunger, do something about our food banks.
We have an opportunity here to do something that is so
precious, it is off the chart.
It is unusual that the first lady of West Virginia, when I
was the Governor--and my wife Cathy is with me today--she did
something that is off the chart. She did something with
communities and school that was absolutely directed right at
helping kids that were in real need.
Now just think about it. We are absolutely looking at the
possibility of whole milk and how much meaningfulness that
whole milk could bring to our children. Absolutely, many of our
kids in our schools in West Virginia, these are the primary
meals of their whole day. That is all there is to it.
Absolutely, if we cannot step up and do the right thing for
nutrition for our children, and God knows there are many, many,
many things that our kids are putting in their bodies that they
should not be putting in. That is all there is to it. One of
those things is not whole milk, in my opinion.
With all that being said, also, being a coach, and not just
athletes. I want you to pay really close attention to just
this: kids want good stuff to eat today. You may think that
kids just want junk to eat today. You know, in all honestly,
imagine this. Imagine having a kid that is a high school kid
that is playing on your basketball team that has never eaten a
candy bar in his life. You know, it is really true.
With all that being said, I am telling you, you have the
attention of our children today. Our kids want to do better.
They really do. We have an opportunity to step up. That is
exactly what we should be doing. We should be trying, in every
possible way we possibly can, to make our kids healthier, to
absolutely give them the nutrition that they need, and I am
absolutely, wholeheartedly, and not as a pun, but I am
wholeheartedly in favor of moving forward with whole milk.
With all that being said, I defer my remaining time to our
Madam Chairman.
Senator Klobuchar. Very good. Thank you. I know you have
also been joined by your wife Cathy, so we welcome her, as
well. Next up is Senator Welch.
Senator Welch. Senator Justice--is it----
Senator Klobuchar. Senator Lujan is next. I am sorry. He
was here earlier. Are you sure? Okay. Thanks.
Senator Welch. Well, I was just going to say, you spoke for
me. I really appreciated that. Also I notice my colleague from
Kansas is usually low key and rarely shows off, except in
service of milk. I appreciate you doing that.
You know, what you said, Senator Justice, is so absolutely
true, and one in five, you used the word ``food insecurity,''
that is what we are talking about, it is downright hungry. Kids
are hungry. They show up and they are hungry, and it is through
no fault of their own.
I do not know where things got off the rails, because I
have such a vivid memory as a boy, looking forward to Roger's
box of milk when I got to school. We all did, and it got us
through the morning. Sometimes it was chocolate, which I guess
we are not advocating for here, but I sneak a little of that
every once in a while, whole milk, chocolate.
It is really reassuring to me that we are taking up this
bill about whole milk, because it is about whole milk. It is
about our farmers. It is about an acknowledgement that a school
is a place where kids are going to get the opportunity to get
some decent nutrition. It does not matter what our politics
are. We all care about our kids, right?
It is tough. It is tough, tough, tough for a lot of
families to get healthy food, because so much has happened in
the food industry, where in order to make a lot of profit, the
enterprises that sell food are often very consolidated, and the
goal that they have is maximization of profit. You look at what
a lot of the ingredients are on some of the things that are in
the store, and you have never heard of any of them.
Whole food also, by the way, tends to be more locally
produced. The virtuous cycle that happens when you are getting
local products--milk from Vermont dairy or Kansas dairy or West
Virginia, or vegetables grown locally--that is healthy food but
it is also locally produced, and it strengthens the rural
economy. All of us, in every one of our States, is really
suffering from incredible pressures on our rural economy, that
is making life very, very difficult there.
Senator Marshall, I just want to thank you for your
leadership on this very practical, and I think long overdue
legislation about whole milk.
The other thing that I have been impressed at, Vermont is a
big dairy State, as you mentioned, Senator Klobuchar. You know,
there is an immense amount of pride among our dairy farmers.
Who works harder? Maybe the coal miners, okay.
Senator Justice. Nobody works harder then dairy people.
Senator Welch. Well, I was in one of your coal mines, and
they will give them a run for their money. That is the point,
is that we can have a food system where we get nutritious food
by people who are willing to work really, really hard. They are
not in the goal of becoming millionaires. They are in the goal
of a committed life to helping the kids and all of us have
nutritious food. We went off the rails when we made it tough
for whole milk to be the schools.
I also want to acknowledge your point about nutrition as a
whole. You know, the USDA had some grants that resulted in
Vermont getting a Dairy Innovation Center, and that resulted in
some facilities putting milk tanks in the schools, where the
kids would be able to get milk when they wanted it. They would
take some milk home. You know, do you check everybody's wallet
to see whether they have got money in it and can afford it or
not? No, you took advantage of the fact that these kids are at
school and they can just go over there and choose to drink some
milk.
I hope that as we pursue this, this whole milk opportunity
for our kids and for our farmers, that it is the beginning of a
real commitment to nutritious, locally produced, natural foods
as being a much bigger part of what our diet is.
Is this going to help us on the obesity issue that I think
is a real problem for America, if we can get back to some whole
milk products and other natural products?
Dr. Stoody. I think we need to see how time goes. I think
we are in a situation where diets are so far from
recommendations across the board. The recommendations for a
healthy diet include vegetables, fruits, grains, a variety of
protein foods and dairy. In general, 80 to 90 percent of people
in the U.S. do not meet the recommendations for vegetables,
fruits, dairy. We consume too many refined grains, on average.
We consume too much added sugars. We consume too much saturated
fat.
I think this is one piece of the puzzle to incorporate more
dairy. But we have a large nutrition problem, and I think it
needs action across multiple fronts, and not just dairy alone.
Senator Welch. Thank you. My time is up, but I would say if
we can do something that is good, let's do it, and then we will
do another thing that is good. Thank you.
Senator Klobuchar. Senator Lujan, at least you did not have
to wait long. Senator Lujan.
Senator Lujan. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank everyone
for this important hearing today.
Now, it is my understanding that we are gathered here for a
hearing that is titled ``The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act
and Improving Children's Health.'' I just want that to sit in a
little bit. Improving Children's Health. I appreciate that we
are having this conversation today, but I think we are missing
the big picture. There is a whole conversation going on right
now about devastating the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program. My colleagues from the other side of the aisle want to
cut between $1 billion and $230 billion from SNAP. Improving
Children's Health.
This comes while President Trump pushes for the largest
peacetime tax increase in modern U.S. history through sweeping
tariffs. As the tariffs take effect and the cost of groceries
rise, my Republican colleagues are planning to slash a few
programs that exist to help families keep food on the table. I
think it would be important to have a hearing about that, as
well.
For kids across the country, the funding levels we debate
here in this room are not an abstract number in the budget
resolution. These are real kids, real people, people that we
all represent. It is the difference between having a hot lunch
in school and food in the cupboards when they come home, and
going hungry.
Nearly one in four kids in the United States relies on SNAP
benefits. These kids do not get to choose how much money their
parents have in their bank accounts each week to buy food.
Sometimes they do not even get to choose what they get to eat.
Dr. Stoody, I want to thank you for being here. I
appreciate the information you provided in your testimony about
the impacts of dairy consumption on the health of children.
Currently, one in four children in the United States rely on
SNAP to access food. In 2023, the dairy industry conservatively
estimated that SNAP dollars purchased $9.5 billion of dairy
products--$9.5 billion of dairy products purchased by SNAP. A
bunch of us represent States that have strong dairies. I do, as
well. I wonder what the conversations are like when we are
talking to those dairy families and saying, ``Don't worry.
These SNAP cuts aren't going to devastate your practice.''
``Don't worry. You don't have to get rid of herds.''
We need a basis for what it is, and like Senator Welch
said, do what is right. A wise person once said that it is
never a bad time to do what is right.
I have a few questions here. Dr. Stoody, yes or no. Did
President Trump and the USDA cut $1 billion in funding for
schools and food banks to buy fresh, locally grown food from
nearby farmers by eliminating the local food and schools
program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative
Agreement Program?
Dr. Stoody. Sir, I am here as a subject matter expert
related to the Dietary Guidelines. I cannot speak to that, but
we are happy to bring that back to the department.
Senator Lujan. I can answer that question. The answer to
that question is yes. On March 7, 2025, the USDA terminated a
local foods and schools program and the Local Food Purchase
Assistance Cooperative Agreement program.
Dr. Stoody, yes or no. Did President Trump and the USDA
cancel the Patrick Leahy Farm-to-School Grant Program, which
provided schools with support for sourcing local foods for
school lunches and breakfasts?
Dr. Stoody. Thank you, sir. I am not able to answer that
question.
Senator Lujan. I have an answer to that one that might
surprise everyone. The answer to that question is also yes.
USDA notified grant applicants on March 24th that the Fiscal
Year 2025 competition for the Patrick Leahy Farm-to-School
Grant Program was, quote, ``canceled.''
Dr. Stoody, yes or no. Did President Trump and the USDA
freeze $500 million in food deliveries to food banks under The
Emergency Food Assistance Program without explanation?
Dr. Stoody. Thank you, sir. I am not able to answer that
question.
Senator Lujan. The answer to that question is yes. In March
2025, USDA suspended millions of dollars in Commodity Credit
Corporation funds originally destined for food banks across the
country through The Emergency Food Assistance Program.
I have several others as examples here. I did not even get
a chance to visit about whole milk. I grew up as a young
person, Roger Marshall, with not much money in the bank, but we
were blessed to have a dairy down the street. My friends still
make fun of me because when I get a carton of milk from the
grocery store I shake it. They ask me, ``Why are you shaking
that carton?'' ``It is how I grew up. The cream rose to the top
in that milk and you have to shake it before you are going to
drink it, if you are going to enjoy it.''
My debate is not about whole milk. I drink it. I support
it. If we want more whole milk to families across the country
and more nutritious food, let's have that debate and let's
stand strong. Let's get a farm bill done. Let's make sure we do
this, where we support producers across the country and support
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, so that my
farmers back home, when they are having conversations with USDA
about their planting schedule in a year, because they know who
their customers are going to be and who they are going to be
able to sell food to, and then the rug gets pulled out from
them after they made a year of decisions to plant this stuff,
it does not make sense. I think we can do things better around
here.
Thank you for the time. I yield back.
Chairman Boozman. [Presiding.] Thank you, Dr. Stoody, for
being here today. We do appreciate your testimony very, very
much, and as always it is very, very helpful.
Let's take a second and get the other panel in place.
[Pause.]
Chairman Boozman. Okay. I think we are back in business.
First I would like to introduce Dr. Keith Ayoob, who is an
Associate Clinical Professor Emeritus at the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine in New York City. For over 32 years, Dr.
Ayoob directed the nutrition clinic as part of the Children's
Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center at Einstein. He is also a
registered dietitian and nutritionist, with over 30 years of
clinical experience, working mostly with low-income minority
children and families in the Bronx.
Thank you for being here today, Dr. Ayoob. I look forward
to your testimony.
STATEMENT OF KEITH AYOOB, Ed.D., ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR EMERITUS,
DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS, ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE,
BRONX, NY
Dr. Ayoob. Thank you to Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member
Klobuchar, and the Committee for the opportunity to speak to
you about the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act.
As introduced, I am an Associate Professor Emeritus of
Pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
For 33 years, I directed the Nutrition Clinic as part of the
Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center, a large
diagnostic and treatment center at Einstein for children and
families with special needs. I am also an RDN, a registered
dietitian/nutritionist. My clinic serves mostly low-income
minority children and families in the Bronx.
Testifying before Congress is not typically part of my job.
I am here because the issue matters to the children I see, so
it matters to me.
Dairy milk in schools, and dairy milk, in general, has 13
essential nutrients, including three of the four what are
called nutrients of concern: calcium, potassium, and vitamin D,
so identified by the Dietary Guidelines because the majority of
Americans, including children, are not getting adequate
amounts.
In terms of health, a plethora of scientific literature
demonstrates that the consumption of cow's milk provides
children with better bone health, a lower risk for type 2
diabetes, and a lower risk for cardiovascular disease.
A systematic review of studies that looked at
cardiometabolic health in children ages 2 to 18 years found
that consumption of dairy foods including whole and reduced-fat
milk had no association with cardiometabolic risk.
Saturated fat does not exist in isolation in foods, yet
historically, we viewed saturated fat monolithically. We now
know that not all saturated fat behaves the same way in the
body. In dairy foods, it is bound to protein like a dairy-fat
or protein-fat matrix, and in this form, the body seems to have
handled it differently. When saturated fats are in the protein-
fat network that occurs in dairy foods like milk, yogurt, and
cheese, they appear not to decrease bad cholesterol and to
lower the harmful portion of bad cholesterol. Can other foods
lower bad cholesterol and reduce cardiovascular risk?
Absolutely, but they cannot provide the 13 essential nutrients
in milk.
Numerous systematic reviews have found that higher-fat milk
consumption to be associated with lower childhood obesity. I
work primarily with Black and Hispanic children, and obesity
rates are higher in this population. That said, in 2010, when
whole milk and reduced-fat were removed from school meals,
obesity prevalence was about 17 percent. Since the removal of
whole milk and reduced-fat milk in schools, obesity prevalence
has increased. It is now 21 percent, but it is higher, about 25
percent, in Black and Hispanic children, which is the
population that I work with.
Clearly whole milk was not the issue here. The type of milk
in schools was not the cause of this, and it is not the cure.
Taking this a step further, if children are not drinking
milk at school because the school does not have the type of
milk they prefer, one would postulate that they would lose
weight. There is no evidence this is happening.
No matter what type of milk is offered in school, none of
it is nutritious until students drink it. They do not drink it
often enough, which just exacerbates their nutrient and dietary
gaps.
Moreover, giving the children the kind of milk option they
like can encourage participation in school meal programs, and
that is my goal. Most of the children that I see are from low-
income families, and specifically, milk provides 22 percent of
the calcium, 40 percent of the vitamin D, and 10 percent of the
potassium in the American diet. In a study of low-income
children, 77 percent of their daily milk intake came from
school meals.
In conclusion, milk, including low-fat milk, reduced-fat
milk, and whole milk, and skim, and lactose-free varieties
represents a nutrient package that I have never been able to
find in any other single food or beverage.
Thank you very much for your time, and I look forward to
your questions.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Ayoob can be found on pages
38-43 in the appendix.]
Chairman Boozman. Thank you, Dr. Ayoob.
Next we will hear from Mrs. Krista Byler. Mrs. Byler
currently serves as the District Chef and Food Service Director
for Union City Area School District, a rural community located
in northwestern Pennsylvania. She studied at Pennsylvania's
Institute of Culinary Arts and spent several years working as a
professional chef prior to entering school nutrition in 2005.
Mrs. Byler comes from a family of dairy farmers, and brings her
appreciation for agriculture and passion for culinary education
to school nutrition.
Thank you very much, Mrs. Byler, for taking time away from
your family and your students to be with us today.
STATEMENT OF KRISTA BYLER, DISTRICT FOOD SERVICE DIRECTOR/CHEF,
UNION CITY AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT, SPARTANSBURG, PA
Mrs. Byler. Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member Klobuchar, and
Members of the Committee, good morning. Thank you for the
opportunity to speak before you today.
My name is Krista Byler. I am a professional chef turned
lunch lady. I have been with the Union City Area School
District for 20 years as the Food Service Director and District
Chef.
When I began my career in child nutrition it was for
selfish reasons. The schedule aligned better with my family
life and few food service positions offer that opportunity.
What I did not know 20 years ago, but quickly learned, was how
child nutrition would change me and even break me. I think we
have heard stories today that speak to that.
Half of the reason I am here today is that passion for
child nutrition. The other half, as Senator Boozman mentioned,
I come from a dairy family. I grew up in my grandfather's dairy
back yard, and have been married for 24 years to a once dairy
farmer, now turned beef producer. Dairy holds a huge space in
my heart, obviously, as does child nutrition.
In 2010, when the Child Reauthorization was passed, I was
very concerned about how the school milk changes would affect
both our students and our dairy farm families in Pennsylvania
and nationwide. I kept a close eye on the milk consumption and
waste that we started seeing in about 2012, when the act
actually was put into practice. It was heartbreaking what I was
seeing at our little, 1,000-student school district. The amount
of waste that we were throwing away each day was disheartening.
As the years grew, with this new legislation in place, my
dairy orders also greatly declined. We were seeing a huge
increase in waste and a huge decline in the amount of milk that
I was actually ordering, because our students were not choosing
to take milk.
In the spring of 2018, I attended the Legislation Action
Committee, put on by the School Nutrition Association, in
Washington, DC, where I had the opportunity to meet with GT
Thompson and a group of school nutrition professionals that
were like-minded in their concern for the school milk waste. As
well, there were some dairy interest groups there. Through that
meeting, I was introduced to the Pennsylvania Grassroots Dairy
Committee, and they had invited me to do some data collection
for the group.
With the blessing of our school board of directors, in the
2019-2020 school year, we ran a school milk choice trial. We
began offering all levels of milk fat, both flavored and
unflavored, in our district for the entire school year. The
results are astounding. In my written testimony, if you would
like to check out the full presentation with all of the survey
results and the data, it is there for you to read.
What I want to really drive home today is two main data
points: the 50 percent increase in milk consumption and the 95
percent--that is right, 95 percent--reduction in milk waste
just because we offered a variety of milk choices that fit our
students need.
This is a win for our students as well as our farmers. We
need to be the change makers that our students and dairy
farmers both need. We need to bring back the ability to offer
milk fat choice in schools, including nutrient-dense whole
milk, which, by the way, is just 3.25 to 3.5 percent fat.
I would be remiss if I did not address the concerns that
you have also heard a lot about today regarding the local food
cut, CEP reduction, the Patrick Leahy programs. Unfortunately,
those cuts, combined with the increasing cost of procurement,
may force schools to scale back or abandon some of the efforts
that they have put into place recently that are really
incredible. The school meals you heard about today, I can
firsthand say that there are some very, very incredible things
happening that do not speak to that, and I hate to see those
cut due to the lack of funding.
I believe access to good quality, nutrient-dense school
food is a basic right of education. School meals are an
essential school supply.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak. I welcome any
questions you might have.
[The prepared statement of Mrs. Byler can be found on pages
44-56 in the appendix.]
Chairman Boozman. Thank you.
Dr. Linette Dodson currently serves as the Deputy
Superintendent of School Nutrition for the Georgia Department
of Education. Prior to joining the Georgia Department of
Education in 2019, she served as Local School Nutrition
Director in Georgia for over 18 years. Her leadership in
helping Georgia students continue receiving meals during the
pandemic earned her Georgia's ``Big Voices for Children
Award,'' in 2023.
Dr. Dodson, thank you for joining us today. We look forward
to your testimony.
STATEMENT OF LINETTE DODSON, Ph.D., DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF
SCHOOL NUTRITION, GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, CARROLLTON,
GA
Dr. Dodson. Thank you, Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member
Klobuchar, and Members of the Committee. Thank you for the
opportunity to testify today on the importance of the national
school meal programs and share some current challenges and best
practices.
I am Linette Dodson, Deputy Superintendent of School
Nutrition for Georgia Department of Education, and a registered
dietitian. Prior to my role at the State I was a local director
for almost 20 years, and I really discovered my passion for
school nutrition while working in my children's school
district.
I have seen firsthand the positive impact the national
school meal programs on children have locally and Statewide.
School meals are a vital source of nutrition for 30 million
school-age children across our country. It is a program
perfectly positioned to significantly impact the health of our
Nation's children, if properly supported. As a valuable partner
in education, school meals can integrate food-based learning to
help students learn about food, enhance their education, and
improve their diets. School meals are a science-based
investment in our Nation's future, supporting children's
growth, development, and academic success. With a diverse menu
of whole grains, lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and milk, they
should be accessible to all students as part of their school
day.
We must not let the progress made in improving students'
dietary habits during the school year falter during summer
months when school is out. This is why summer meal programs are
essential. They provide children with continued access to
nutritious meals, even outside of the school setting. The
recent flexibilities allowing to-go meal options in rural areas
has significantly expanded our reach, ensuring more children in
need receive healthy food while school is out.
However, I think it is important for the Committee to
understand that there are serious challenges that the programs
are facing today, including soaring food costs, labor
shortages, and unnecessary program complexities. Federal
funding that supports these meals must cover the cost of
purchasing food, paying for labor and benefits, as well as
purchasing equipment.
Many programs are challenged just like consumers with
increased costs in all these areas. Expanded reimbursement is
needed to maintain the food quality required to be domestically
sourced and the skilled workforce to prepare that food.
There are complex program regulations that require
extensive staff training and support and take away from the
focus of nutritious foods. Continuing to simplify the program
and reduce these administrative burdens would allow more focus
to be on the food that is actually served to students.
Beyond the need for increased reimbursement and
simplification of regulations, the programs have benefited from
additional investments such as the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Program and Equipment Grants. The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Program introduces fruits and vegetable snacks to elementary
school children, and it improves acceptability and consumption
of those food items in the meal program. The Equipment Grants
help provide specialized kitchen equipment needed to prepare
school meals with fresh ingredients.
Recent Federal grants expanded the inclusion of locally
sourced foods, improving the quality of these meals, and
providing direct support for local farmers. All of these
supports have only strengthened the program and could be
increased to expand the documented positive impacts.
In Georgia, our local districts embrace innovation to focus
on the quality of meals served to our students. Our K-12
culinary culture moves beyond just regulatory compliance. This
means the incorporation of fresh local foods, applying culinary
techniques, food safety standards with good customer service,
which creates a school meal experience. Federal requirements
must be met, but the standard should be greater than just
meeting requirements. For Georgia it is a quality school meal
being provided to every student, in every school, every day.
Thank you from our Nation's school-age children and school
nutrition professionals for the financial commitment that has
been made for almost 80 years funding school meals. The
additional grant funding has allowed for the expansion of farm-
to-school initiatives, purchases of kitchen equipment, and
expansion of local foods, and providing quality school meals
that look and taste good is an investment worth making.
Please consider expanding the reimbursement rates, continue
to invest in farm-to-school and local purchasing programs and
grant initiatives to streamline program regulations. Our goal
should be to ensure a quality school meal is available to every
student, every day, in our Nation's schools. Thank you so much.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Dodson can be found on pages
57-62 in the appendix.]
Chairman Boozman. Thank you. Senator Klobuchar.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. Senator Slotkin welcomes you.
She could not be here at this moment, Mr. Gorman, and passed on
your good wishes. I know you have served as the Food Service
Director for public schools in Michigan for 25 years, and you
are a graduate of the Michigan State University Eli Broad
School of Business, with a bachelor's degree in hotel and
restaurant management. In addition to your work as School Food
Director for your school district you have served in a number
of roles related to child nutrition and school meals, and you
have served the School Nutrition Association of Michigan, as
well.
We thank you and welcome you to this hearing.
STATEMENT OF DAN GORMAN, FOOD SERVICE DIRECTOR, MONTAGUE AREA
PUBLIC AND NORTH MUSKEGON PUBLIC SCHOOLS, MONTAGUE, MI
Mr. Gorman. Thank you, Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member
Klobuchar, and Members of the Committee. I appreciate this
opportunity. As has been said, my name is Dan Gorman. I have
been the School Food Service Director in Montague Area Public
Schools and North Muskegon Public Schools for the past 26
years.
Today I would like to talk about this dollar. This dollar
allocated by Congress for school means, and in my opinion is
the best dollar that the U.S. Government spends. We have been
given the mission in school meals, feed America's children. We
do that every day--30 million lunches and 15 million
breakfasts, served by kind, caring, nutrition professionals
offering well-balanced meals.
What else does the dollar do? Those 45 million meals every
day include fruits and vegetables grown by American farmers,
meat from American ranchers and producers, and milk from
American dairies. It funds food manufacturers, food
distributors, and provides meaningful work to lunch ladies
across the Nation.
Finally, school meals serve as a financial and nutritional
safety net for millions of kids. Now I know this hearing is
about whole milk, and I would just like to note, flexibility
rather than mandates allows me to best serve my students and
reflects the needs of my community.
What worries me more is the proposals that would reduce
Community Eligibility Provision and divert resources away from
school meals. CEP is smart government. CEP allows high-need
schools to offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to all
students. It takes an economic snapshot of the community,
called an ISP, using SNAP and Medicaid data. Schools with an
ISP of 25 percent or higher qualify for CEP. To account for
families not eligible enrolled in SNAP, CEP applies a 1.6
multiplier. In North Muskegon, our ISP is 25 percent. We can
offer free meals to all of our students. Our Federal
reimbursement is approximately 40 percent. Luckily, Michigan is
a Healthy School Meals for All State, and the State picks up
the additional 60 percent of our cost shortfall.
CEP is a great success. In North Muskegon we saw a 300
percent increase in our breakfast participation and a 30
percent increase in our lunch participation. It has made a real
difference. Our ability to focus on student meals and not
paperwork has been a game changer.
The proposal to raise the CEP threshold from 25 percent to
60 percent would devastate our districts I oversee and schools
nationwide. If passed, Montague, North Muskegon, and 24,000
other high-need schools would lose CEP and free meal access.
Let me talk a little bit about the non-CEP meal application
process. It is inefficient. My families would have to fill out
an application, and then my staff would have to review that
application, and then I would have to look at it to make sure
everything is right. Then someone from our State office, every
three to five years, they would come look at the piece of
paper. Then we hire an auditor every year and they check out
that piece of paper, and then at some point the USDA comes by
and they look at it, all to confirm that Johnny is deserving of
a free meal.
If the House Budget Chair's proposal to increase household
income verification passes, I would have to process over 1,000
applications a year. There are large school districts that
would have the burden of about 20,000 applications, and this is
a big concern to me.
I would also say the other cutbacks that have been talked
about around agriculture is very hurtful. Investing in small
agriculture is essential for national security. A resilient
nation requires strong small farms, and these programs build
that resilience. They must continue.
This Committee has a long history of getting things done.
While other things might work differently in these halls, this
Committee has always been a group that works for America. I
hope that continues.
I am incredibly grateful to be here to share this message.
We need to be successful in school nutrition because our
students cannot be successful without it. I am ready to help in
any way to make this dollar work better for our kids, and I
welcome your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Gorman can be found on pages
63-69 in the appendix.]
Chairman Boozman. Thank you very much. We do appreciate you
all being here and the helpful testimony.
Mrs. Byler, in your testimony you highlighted the
significant reduction in milk waste as a result of the trial
you conducted to offer students a wider variety of options. Can
you expand on how limiting choices led to increased waste of
milk and how expanding choice could result in less milk being
thrown away?
Mrs. Byler. Absolutely. Obviously I can only speak really
from my district, but in my district most of the students were
very upset when we had the rollback because they are not
familiar with skim milk or one percent. I will give them
credit. They all tried it, and the majority decided they did
not like it.
When we had the milk trial back, after about seven years of
not having those options, they were thrilled. Our student
council actually did the data collection, and unfortunately
they took a little bit of heat after the 2020 school year, when
we went back to not being able to offer the variety. Just
overwhelmingly, the feedback we had from the students was they
want what they are familiar with. They want something that is
satisfying. Our athletes especially were very vocal about
something that sticks with them. It is a perfect recovery
drink. There is just a lot of anecdotal data that I have from
our students that what works for them is best. Having a full
variety of options is best.
Chairman Boozman. Very good. Dr. Ayoob, in your testimony
you speak to the complexity of obesity and the tendency of many
groups to point to one issue as the sole cause for obesity. Can
you expand on how policymakers in the nutrition community have
gotten it wrong in the past by drawing a correlation between
milk and obesity?
Dr. Ayoob. There actually is no correlation between milk
and obesity. Actually, the correlation is inverse. A greater
consumption of dairy foods, historically, has shown less
obesity. Can I build on what Mrs. Byler said about what the
children chose? I know my kids, in my clinic, have said that
they find skim milk watery. It is just what you are used to,
and they are not used to that at home. They may take that
carton of milk. That is fine. The school will get reimbursed. I
am concerned they drain that carton of milk. Because if they
take a few sips and then, okay, that is enough, I am done
because I do not want any more, that is different than if they
take the carton and they actually drain it, okay, and they
finish that carton. There is less food waste and there is more
nutrition going into the children.
I will tell you, I think I mentioned, and I have certainly
submitted it in my written testimony, that the dairy fat in
milk, when it is combined with a protein-fat matrix it is not
handled by the body the same way. It is handled a little bit
differently. Study after study has shown, and a review of
studies has shown, that I mentioned in my submitted testimony,
that greater consumption of dairy foods, including whole-fat
dairy foods, has been associated with less obesity and less
cardiometabolic risk.
Now, I want kids to eat a full meal. I want the whole meal
to be consumed. If kids get the options--I am not talking about
taking any options away from kids, but I want the full access
that they should have, for the range of options of milk that
are available. They may come to lunch, or breakfast, because
they have the milk they like, but they are going to stay for
the meal. That is my goal. They may come for the milk, but I
want them to stay for the whole meal, because that is the way I
can get a balanced meal into those kids.
Chairman Boozman. Very good. Senator Klobuchar.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much, Senator Boozman.
Thank you, all of you. I will go to you, Mr. Ayoob. In your
testimony you talk about the critical importance of healthy
eating, nutrition during childhood, especially with respect to
calcium. Can you explain in more detail why this period of life
is so important in terms of nutrition and nutrients?
Dr. Ayoob. Thank you. I would love to, because we do not
have our whole lives to build our bone bank. We have the first
25-ish years. Study after study has shown that kids are under-
consuming calcium and all the nutrients that are necessary to
build bones, and that includes potassium, vitamin D, et cetera.
If they skip the milk in school--now, that might seem like it
is no big deal for a day, maybe even a week, but if they forego
a glass of milk every day they are in school, every day for 12
years, we are going to graduate them with a diploma and not
very good bones. We owe our kids better than that.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you.
Dr. Ayoob. Can I add to that just one second? I think it
was mentioned earlier that we are going to see earlier
osteoporosis, early osteopenia. We always think that is an old
people's disease. It is a pediatric disease with adult
consequences.
Senator Klobuchar. Got it. Thank you. Mrs. Byler, do you
believe we have made progress in school meals in recent years,
and how?
Mrs. Byler. Yes, 100 percent. I am seeing success stories
with farm-to-school programming, through the Patrick Leahy
program, with the Chef Ann Foundation, the Healthy Meals
Initiatives. There are a lot of fantastic programs available
that have helped school districts. I think that there is a huge
movement. I mean, there was a huge movement and it continues to
grow for culinary professionals moving school programs. I am
seeing----
Senator Klobuchar. We have done meat-cutting in Minnesota.
I have been at a bunch of their things, in trailers outside the
schools. A lot of knives but it is very good.
Mrs. Byler. We are seeing local beef in schools. We are
seeing local produce. It is really amazing work.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Ms. Dodson,
school meals programs support Americans farmers by receiving a
portion of their Federal reimbursement as a commodity credit.
Can you talk about how you use this credit, how it supports
families in Georgia?
Dr. Dodson. Absolutely. It is a huge factor. In Georgia, we
have a goal of at least 20 percent of our school meals being
sourced locally in Georgia. Of course, most recently, from the
Local Foods for School Initiative, we know we have spent almost
$5 million in addition to the USDA foods that are sourced
through our DoD Fresh Program, and that program, we are serving
about $6 million worth of local produce through that program,
as well as additional purchases that are made at the local
level. There is a lot of Georgia food being served on Georgia
trays.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. Mr. Gorman, I like your
enthusiastic testimony down there. You have said that community
eligibility has made as much of an impact on school meals as
anything you have seen in your 25 years as a school food
director. Can you talk about why community eligibility stands
out as a positive force for schools?
Mr. Gorman. You know, I have noticed, in my career, in the
26 years it has really been the last five years where I have
been able to have been qualified for the CEP program, and I
have noticed the difference of really just the time I have to
do things and the time my staff has to do things.
Senator Klobuchar. Yes.
Mr. Gorman. In the last five years, with some farm-to-
school----
Senator Klobuchar. Red tape.
Mr. Gorman [continuing]. Red tape. We are able to focus on
school meals and the food in front of the kids.
Senator Klobuchar. You also talk in your testimony about
the fact that SNAP cuts would undermine your ability to serve
kids through the community eligibility. I had asked this
earlier and our USDA expert, who I respect, was going to get
back to us on that. That is something right in front of us
right now, as some of my colleagues have pointed out. Can you
talk about why this is the case and what the impact would be?
Mr. Gorman. You know, SNAP is the way most of our children
qualify for school meals, and if they come off of that program
then they could not qualify for school meals. What that does is
that returns hunger to the classroom, and hunger is humiliating
for a child, embarrassing, painful, and most likely
unnecessary.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Last, just back to you Ms. Dodson,
some people have proposed raising the threshold for community
eligibility from 25 percent to 60 percent of low-income
students. Can you talk about the impact of such a change to
Georgia, and can you estimate how many schools and students
would lose access to school meals if such a change were made?
Dr. Dodson. Yes, ma'am. Currently we have 1,296 schools out
of our 2,300 that operate the Community Eligibility Provision
in Georgia, and this has been a tremendous amount of growth. We
would lose, potentially, 350 of those schools with that change,
and with the further changes with SNAP that could be an even
greater factor moving forward. About half a million children,
potentially, would lose access.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you for your thoughtful testimony,
all four of you, and thank you, Senator Boozman.
Chairman Boozman. Senator Marshall.
Senator Marshall. Thank you again, Chairman Boozman and
Ranking Member Klobuchar, and again, Senator Welch, my co-
leader on this legislation. Welcome to all the panel members
and thank you for taking time out of your day for something
obviously that is important and near and dear to all your
hearts, so I appreciate it.
I want to start off with Chef Byler. Can I call you Chef?
Mrs. Byler. Yes.
Senator Marshall. Okay. I did not get to hear all your
testimony. I am reviewing it here. It sounds to me like when
you offer students a choice of milks, consumption goes up. Can
you just speak really quickly to that again, giving them
choices?
Mrs. Byler. Sure. Yes, absolutely. The milk that we were
ordering increased by 50 percent, and the waste decreased by 95
percent during the trial years, the year that we did.
Senator Marshall. That is incredible. I mean, it is
absolutely incredible, and it is amazing when we do a little
education, a little coaching, a little teaching, and a few
choices, that eventually the consumer makes these choices.
When you are considering the cost of a student's meal, the
lunches that you are in charge of, I am sure you do have to
think about cost a little bit. I hate to ask a question I do
not know the answer, but is milk an expensive item, or how does
the cost of milk formulate into that school lunch program as
you think about the cost of the nutritious lunch you are
serving?
Mrs. Byler. Sure. I mean, nationwide we have about $4.50 to
put a lunch together, and that includes everything, all of our
overhead costs. In Pennsylvania, where I am at, in northwestern
Pennsylvania, the cost of milk is about 27 cents.
Senator Marshall. For a carton?
Mrs. Byler. Correct. Yes.
Senator Marshall. I just remember, again, growing, like
Peter said, at 10 every morning the milk lady came in. They
were a nickel, and I had a dime to spend on them, and had an
extra milk ticket to punch at lunch because my parents wanted
me to have extra milk, and I still credit milk to so many great
things, as well.
What is your advice to us that we are missing so far as we
try to bring, in my opinion, whole milk back to the school?
Mrs. Byler. I think it was said very well several times
today. We can do better. I think if we just bring back the milk
choice to schools we would see a huge increase in consumption,
a huge decrease in waste, and satisfaction for our students,
would be through the roof.
Senator Marshall. One of the choices would be whole milk.
Mrs. Byler. Absolutely.
Senator Marshall. Right, as well.
Dr. Ayoob, I want to talk to you a second. I am the OB. I
got to bring the baby in. You are a pediatrician, right?
Dr. Ayoob. I am not a medical doctor. I am a doctor of
nutrition.
Senator Marshall. Of nutrition. For some reason I thought
you were in pediatrics. I do not know where I got that. You
started talking about osteopenia and osteoporosis, and I just
want to drive this home. There is just nothing more
frustrating, challenging in my life when an elderly woman has
osteoporosis and her vertebrae have collapsed. Really, I mean,
they are in horrible pain, they are in the emergency room. It
is not like replacing a hip. I cannot go in there and help
those folks out. Just speak a little bit more what you are
seeing clinically when it comes to osteopenia and porosis, and
how important it is that you reach your maximum density around
26, 28, and then it is downhill from there unless you are
taking some pretty aggressive medications.
Dr. Ayoob. I can tell you, my clinic deals mostly with
kids, but I see what happens with their parents, who are young
parents who did not grow up with drinking a lot of milk. They
do suffer. They do pay the price. Knee problems, hip problems,
et cetera.
I take dietary histories on all the kids that I see, and I
always want to focus on the balance of nutrient that kids are
getting. If I see food groups that are missing, that is a red
flag for me. I always ask them, I say, ``Do you drink the milk
in school?'' and I want to find out why. They say, ``Well, I
don't like it.'' I know what kind of milk is offered. It is
skim and one percent. It may not be what they are used to. That
is a missed opportunity. That is just a missed opportunity.
Now some kids will drink the milk fine, and I am not
worried about taking away options. I just want to make sure
that the full spread of options is there so that kids can get
the milk that they want and they can actually drink the entire
carton of it.
Senator Marshall. Yes. I meant to ask Chef Byler what the
options were at school these days, but I still want to just--I
mean, sodas, sugar sodas, are not just neutral when it comes to
osteoporosis and penia. It is actually going the wrong
direction. Go ahead.
Dr. Ayoob. Can I speak one second? Also, if kids do not get
the kind of milk they drink, they are going to end the school
day with eight hours less fluid. They are going to be thirsty.
They are going to be hungry because there is protein and
nutrition in that milk. They are going to go right down to the
corner, at least where I live in New York City, and they are
going to go buy some 24-ounce bottle of swill, that is
basically sugar water and----
Senator Marshall. Yes, because milk is, what, is it 80
percent water, 90 percent----
Dr. Ayoob. Yes, A bottle of something----
Senator Marshall. Something to get hydrated.
Dr. Ayoob [continuing]. that is going to have, first of
all, more sugar than they get in an entire week in school, but
even then, it has got no nutrition in it. That is losing.
Senator Marshall. Yes. Emphasizing, soda is not just--you
do not lose benefits of milk. It is actually soda is really
hard on your bones. Is that right, Chef Byler?
Mrs. Byler. Yes.
Senator Marshall. Okay. I better yield back. Thank you so
much.
Chairman Boozman. Senator Welch.
Senator Welch. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. You know,
one of reasons I so appreciate this Committee, led by you and
Senator Klobuchar, is the kind of witnesses we get. I mean, you
guys are doing good work. I really appreciate it. You know, I
am thinking about you, and you have found a way, that suited
your schedule, and then you turned it into this incredible
career that has been so beneficial not just for your kids but
for kids all over the country. That is pretty impressive. Each
of you has been so committed to doing practical things on the
local level, community level, where there is so much pressure
in our communities that pull families apart, that make it tough
for parents managing with their kids going to school, that they
worry about how they are doing there, and food is so essential.
I just wanted to express to each of you my gratitude for
the work that you are doing.
Mr. Chairman, as you know, our job is to make their job
easier, not harder. We fail in that a lot of times, but this
Committee is really committed to trying to do everything we
can.
I will start by just asking Ms. Dodson, put it in the
context of broader issues than just milk, but the nutrition
programs. We have debates here about funding any kind of
program, and that is fair and square. I literally have not
heard a witness, including the most fiscally conservative folks
here, who have anything that they object to with respect to
school nutrition. You know, we have a debate about whether it
should be needs-based or whatever, but in addition to the
fundamentally beneficial effect of having kids get good
nutrition at school, I have always felt there is a
socialization element to that, you know, kids having a meal
together, sharing milk together, which is so much a part of not
only building a good body but good character.
Maybe you could just comment a little bit about the
benefits you see.
Dr. Dodson. Yes, sir. I think school meals have a unique
opportunity, as I mentioned. I honestly believe it could be a
tremendous solution for our Nation's health, give the
opportunity to model healthy eating, expose children to a wide
variety of locally grown foods especially, that are healthy and
nutritious. We have seen the combination of that with nutrition
education, or what we call food-based learning, is a way to
bring education lessons alive. Also it gets students more
comfortable with the food choices that they are being served as
part of school meals, because they are not always seeing those
at home, in their regular diet. They are not always exposed to
fresh fruits and vegetables like we have the opportunity to
provide them with at school.
I think education has that opportunity, and school
nutrition can kind of be that educational hub, if you will, and
a foundation for children within their school day.
Senator Welch. Thank you. Mr. Gorman, my predecessor in the
U.S. Senate from Vermont is that man who is staring at us right
from his picture up there, former Chairman of the Agriculture
Committee, Patrick Leahy, whom we in Vermont are very proud of
all he did. One of his many accomplishments was the Patrick
Leahy Farm-to-School and Local Food for Schools Cooperative
Program. That was terminated for the rest of this fiscal year,
and my understanding is it will be reinstated next year.
Can you just comment on the benefit of Senator Leahy's
legacy program that was supported with a strong bipartisan
majority in the U.S. Senate?
Mr. Gorman. Yes. Thank you for that question. It really is.
We were a recipient of the grant probably five or six years
ago, and we had applied this coming year and got that notice
that it was canceled, so it was really crushing to us. You
know, it is a jumpstart to local food movements. I think about
over our past 10, 15 years, it started us building toward
figuring out the local infrastructure and getting more local
food and starting school gardens.
Over the past five years, we have gotten private and public
grants in our county, over $2 million, to move on this issue,
to get kids so they understand what local food is, to make
those connections. We are starting a food processing plant in
Muskegon County with the goal of getting local Michigan
potatoes diced and frozen, so we can get them on every plate in
Muskegon County and beyond. All of that started with that Farm-
to-School Grant that we got 10 years ago as a cooperative, to
start putting those pieces together.
Senator Welch. Thank you very much. Before I yield back I
just want to say, this Committee has an opportunity to help the
Senate be a better Senate, and I think one of the things we can
do is take some of these specific bills that we agree on and
move them, like this whole milk, Senator Marshall's Whole Milk
Bill. I am just going to suggest to the Chairman to give that
some thought. We can move this before we get a full farm bill.
Let's get some things done that we think make sense to get
done, and help our farmers and help our kids.
I yield back.
Chairman Boozman. Well, thanks to the panel for being here.
I agree with the Senator from Vermont when he said that you all
do good work. I was very impressed, as was the rest of the
Committee, by your testimony and your thoughtfulness.
With that, the record will remain open for five business
days, and today's hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:50 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
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A P P E N D I X
April 1, 2025
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
April 1, 2025
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