(NAFB.com) – The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Friends of the Earth, and other members of the Plant-Powered School Meals Coalition applauded the Senate Agriculture Committee’s actions on increasing non-dairy milk options in schools. The Committee advanced provisions that will make it easier for students to access non-dairy milk options in schools. The changes, included in the amended Whole Milk For Healthy Kids Act, remove key barriers that have long prevented students, especially those who are lactose intolerant, from receiving a nutritionally appropriate beverage option at school. Under current law, students are only guaranteed a substitute for cow’s milk, such as fortified soy milk, if a parent submits a physician’s note documenting a disability, and schools are prohibited from proactively offering soy milk in the lunch line. The red tape places an unnecessary burden on families and disproportionately impacts families of color, in which rates of lactose intolerance are the highest.
