▶ 0:16:58>> good morning and welcome. It is my privilege to call this hearing to order. I'd like to thank our witnesses for taking time to share their expertise and perspectives on the whole milk for healthy kids act.
▶ 0:17:16This would permit schools to offer whole, reduced, fat-free flavored and unflavored milk it has enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the house and senate including many members of this committee. It passed the legislation by an impressive vote. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this committee to make progress on this important bill.
▶ 0:17:44We know america is facing an obesity challenge in nutrition is under a microscope. We know there are a number of health challenges facing students including childhood obesity, nutrient science, many others. They are key in addressing children's health by providing nutritious balanced meals by ensuring students have the fuel they need to be successful in the classroom.
▶ 0:18:15They worked tirelessly to make nutrition standards with tight budgets to determine what students will actually consume. There's no point in declining nutritious value of school lunches if they wind up in the trashcan. We have seen them across many different venues. We have had requirements for sodium, foods, vegetables in and outside congress.
▶ 0:18:48Equally important is the engagement from everyone. Parents, teachers, all of those involved in supplying school meals. Today's hearing is an excellent opportunity for us to hear from a wide variety of experts with school nutrition programs. Along with the nutrition of science experts on the state level and school districts with on the ground experience.
▶ 0:19:21I look forward to hearing from witnesses and putting advice into action that will continue this work. I now turn to ranking member klobuchar.
▶ 0:19:34Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you chairman for holding ■this hearing. Thanks to our witnesses who have traveled to share their perspectives on child nutrition programs on what is working and what we could do to improve them . I have long supported the whole milk for healthy -- healthy kids act.
▶ 0:19:59Sen. Klobuchar: This hearing is an important opportunity to underscored the importance of school nutrition and threats to their success. Ensuring kids have access to nutritious foods is a win-win. It is a win for our farmers who have healthy and nutritious foods.
▶ 0:20:21Sen. Klobuchar: There is a perfect storm going on right now with the proposed tariffs with input costs with whether, which is not in our control whether it is floods, tornadoes. And then with the chaos right now with cuts and people being terminated and rehired.
▶ 0:20:45Sen. Klobuchar: I just did a 14 county rural tour including several small town town halls with the farmers union. I really got a sense of where people are coming from. They are mostly small farmers. There is a lot going on. I would just point out.
▶ 0:21:08Sen. Klobuchar: 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, they also support our local farmers at the time when it is the very worst time I have seen in decades. The economy is getting to be much more volatile. People are going to need these programs.
▶ 0:21:40Sen. Klobuchar: You have the farmers and ranchers getting headwinds. Over the last decade we have made significant improvements with nutrition quality improving we have worked to streamline school meal programs. Community eligibility has been a tremendous success while increasing the number of schools increasing meals in the 2023, 2020 four school year.
▶ 0:22:14Sen. Klobuchar: Nearly 23 point 6 million students participated. Community eligibility has played a key role in allowing minnesota to offer meals for children to provide meals for all kids in our state. They chip in state funds on top of the federal reimbursements to allow every school to offer meals.
▶ 0:22:35Sen. Klobuchar: This committee looks at federal child nutrition programs ensuring changes to the programs, rather than take away nutritious foods from kids across the country. Schools, charities, food banks across the country are facing a loss because of usda's recent cancellation of local food purchase agreement and local school for food funds. Schools will lose significant funding for local commodities and farmers.
▶ 0:23:07Sen. Klobuchar: One livestock operator I heard from our losing critical domestic markets. They are costing farmers and ranchers greatly across global markets. Antihunger funding will only exacerbate food insecurity. A federal nutrition program is intended to work together addressing hunger both at school and at home.
▶ 0:23:34Sen. Klobuchar: I let my colleagues in demanding answers about the recent cut to local emergency food providers. If they 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 going hungry. In the house cuts, they are on the table.
▶ 0:23:56Sen. Klobuchar: As the house and committee is likely to cut programs like snap would be devastating to child nutrition. Snap is our largest child nutrition program serving 15.5 million children in 2022. Cuts will have a direct impact on school meals. Many kids participating actually do so through snap. Cuts to snap are also cuts to school meals.
▶ 0:24:27Sen. Klobuchar: Recent proposals would've kicked nearly one million kids off child nutrition. We continue to make improvements to our school nutrition programs. I hope we will have those discussions in the context of the farm bill. We shouldn't ignore the progress that we have made. We can't pretend the cuts that are currently on the table won't stop that progress dead in the tracks. I hope we could all agree that we could first do no harm and then build upon what is working.
▶ 0:24:58Sen. Klobuchar: With that, I look forward to hearing from the witnesses.
▶ 0:25:03Chair Boozman: Thank you. We will now introduce our first witness. Dr. eve stoody is the director of the nutrition guidance and analysis division of the center for nutrition policy at usda. Dr. stoody has played a key part in dietary guidelines for americans dating back to 2010.
▶ 0:25:32Chair Boozman: She holds a doctorate in nutrition from texas university. You are now recognized for your statement.
▶ 0:25:41Dr. Stoody: Thank you chairman boozman, ranking member klobuchar, and members of the committee. It is truly an honor. I'm the director of nutrition guidance and analysis division at the center for nutrition policy and promotion within the food nutrition service within the usda.
▶ 0:26:04Dr. Stoody: I served for over 15 years and supported the development of the dietary guidelines since the 2010 edition. In my current role I serve as a career subject matter expert and lead usda staff in the development of the dietary guidelines. Evidence continues to support dairy as an important part of a healthy dietary pattern. About 90% of U.S.
▶ 0:26:32Dr. Stoody: Population, dairy intakes are below recommendations. Dietary intake data has showed reductions over time which sets the stage for shortfalls, particularly from calcium and vitamin d. It states healthy dietary patterns including milk, yogurt, cheese.
▶ 0:26:59Dr. Stoody: They also recommend most dairy choices should be fat-free or low-fat with no to little added sugars. Dairy recommendations have been relatively consistent in the dietary guidelines since the first edition in 1980. More recent additions have evolved to have lactose free and soy options. As I mentioned, 90% of the U.S.
▶ 0:27:26Dr. Stoody: Population does not meet dairy recommendations and intakes have been declining over time. Dairy intake is about half a cup lower per day now then it was about 20 years ago. We also have national data that describes how many americans report drinking milk on any given day. In adolescence the percent reporting drinking milk was about 75% in the 1970's.
▶ 0:27:57Dr. Stoody: Just under 50% in the early 2000's. The most recent data suggests 35% of adolescents report drinking milk on any given day. Usda school meal program supports the consumption of milk among children. Current school meal nutrition standard schools must offer a variety, at least two options of milk with breakfast and lunch.
▶ 0:28:23Dr. Stoody: Schools may currently offer flavored and unfavored -- unflavored, low-fat and lactose-free milk. It would change the permissible milk types that might be offered in school meals to provide those current at -- current dietary guidelines to also include reduced fat and whole milk. It would also exempt milk fat from the saturated fat limits in school meals.
▶ 0:28:51Dr. Stoody: Currently, 80% of children and adolescents exceed the recommendation with 10% of calories per day. Efforts to increase dairy intakes would increase 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 school meals. I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:29:21Chair Boozman: Thank you for your testimony. Each member will have five minutes. Usda research shows that while milk consumption has been following for several decades, it fell almost twice the amount the previous two decades from 2010 through 2019. This coincides with research finding 90% of americans do not meet the dietary guidelines.
▶ 0:29:52Chair Boozman: The testimony also notes more dairy is consumed as higher fat versus fat-free or low-fat versions. Given the disconnections between the recommendations and consumption, it was justified to removing whole milk from schools.
▶ 0:30:14Chair Boozman: I'd like to --
▶ 0:30:16Dr. Stoody: I'd like to spend one minute talking about the dietary guidelines overall. It recommends an overall healthy diet. That diet is intended to have some flexibility so it could be adapted to reflect personal preferences and individual needs.
▶ 0:30:40Dr. Stoody: This healthy dietary pattern includes dairy, vegetables, fruits, grains, particularly whole grains. It is also a reality that we have a number of calories that individuals should consume their diet. As a general statement across the dietary guidelines, we recommend consuming foods from all of those different food groups and they should have little to no added sugars or saturated fats.
▶ 0:31:10Dr. Stoody: It is not specific to the dairy group rep more broadly to help us stay within those limits consuming less added sugars and saturated fat. For the typical american diet, as has been noted we are in a situation where most americans do not meet dietary guidelines. We have a lot of children who reference the obesity, the prevalence, what we see is the typical american diet we don't have a lot of room. We are consuming too many calories.
▶ 0:31:42Dr. Stoody: We don't have a lot of room. We don't have the calories and saturated fat found in higher fat dairy product. To choose, most dairy should be for lowfat.
▶ 0:32:01Dr. Stoody: Within the context of a healthy diet, dairy products with higher fat content whether that be reduced fat or whole milk could be part of a healthy dietary pattern. The overall diet that is consumed, the dietary guidelines are intended to provide that flexibility.
▶ 0:32:23Chair Boozman: Very good. Senator klobuchar.
▶ 0:32:32Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you very much. There's of course a lot of discussion about snap right now in general. Could you talk about how participating in programs like snap or medicaid in the next few weeks is linked to school meals?
▶ 0:32:56Dr. Stoody: I totally understand and appreciate the question. I don't have information related to that specific question. We are having to bring that back to provide a response.
▶ 0:33:14Sen. Klobuchar: You have been a nutrition scientist, could you explain how school meals have expanded with this need for growth?
▶ 0:33:30Dr. Stoody: It requires the usda to have school meal nutrition standards with the dietary guidelines. It has work to further align school meals with the dietary guidelines. We have seen great progress and improvement in nutritional quality. School meals are the healthiest meals most children consume in a day.
▶ 0:33:58Dr. Stoody: We have a tool called the healthy eating index that assesses how well a package of food aligns with the dietary guidelines. It has a score from zero through 100. When we look at general consumption in the U.S.. The score is about 56 out of 100 indicating a lot of room for improvement.
▶ 0:34:20Dr. Stoody: Within school meals the scores between 79 and 81, which means school meals are more consistent .
▶ 0:34:37Sen. Klobuchar: You went over dairy and how important it is and how kids are not getting enough of it. Could you talk about how the fact that dairy does provide a really important part of school meals, is there evidence that school meals do help dairy and help kids get exposed to drinking milk?
▶ 0:35:02Dr. Stoody: Of course, providing dairy in the school setting facts intakes directly right there. The healthiest meals kids are consuming in a day. I could take that back to give more specific statistics but we do have evidence that offering it, providing it does promote consumption.
▶ 0:35:29Sen. Klobuchar: Is the usda's position that fruits and vegetables are a part of a healthy diet?
▶ 0:35:34Dr. Stoody: Yes.
▶ 0:35:37Sen. Klobuchar: I agree. Want to point out that usda's canceling the local foods purchased assistance are contrary to that advice. Its own data shows that 56% of the funds went to buying produce, by far the largest purchase category. I'm really concerned about that.
▶ 0:35:59Sen. Klobuchar: If we want to promote fruits and vegetables, that cancellation just shows the opposite. Do you want to comment at all on that?
▶ 0:36:13Dr. Stoody: I can't comment that directly but we are happy to bring that back to the department.
▶ 0:36:20Sen. Klobuchar: How could we encourage more consumption of nutritious foods like milk, yogurt, cheese.
▶ 0:36:27Dr. Stoody: I think offering it in school meals, incorporating it into programs. Across settings and sectors, all of us have a role to play. In terms of having healthy choices, outcomes, children. It is across settings and sectors.
▶ 0:36:54Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you.
▶ 0:36:56Sen. Tuberville: Thank you for being here today. My former profession was working with students and kids, traveled to hundreds and hundreds of high schools across the country in all 50 states. I ate in lunch rooms. The food in most of them were atrocious. In 2010 we basically did away with milk for some reason.
▶ 0:37:29Sen. Tuberville: I have a new granddaughter, my daughter-in-law's breast-feeding. We looked at the formula that we could have been feeding my new granddaughter. If we want to do away something it is that. It is nothing but sugar. We will look at something that is so important. It is physical attributes to an adult.
▶ 0:38:03Sen. Tuberville: It is mind-boggling to me. All of our athletes, they drink the milk. There's a reason 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. Science improves and changes over time. Our standard should not be what they were in 2010.
▶ 0:38:34Sen. Tuberville: They have to change. Could you discuss the 2005 dietary guidelines on conclusions?
▶ 0:38:47Dr. Stoody: Just to make sure I heard you correctly you are referencing the 2025 committee? 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 looting dairy, data analysis, number of systematic reviews.
▶ 0:39:18Dr. Stoody: At the end of the day they looked at a lot of new evidence. There is evidence looking at food sources and saturated fats. Patterns that -- dairy that has different amounts of saturated fats and types that are the conversation today. They did a number of food pattern analysis and what that does is looks at what happens if you change the amount of dairy in a pattern.
▶ 0:39:46Dr. Stoody: At the end of the day they found you can't reduce the amount of dairy. The amount recommended still holds. It is a good source and a major source of calcium, vitamin d, about a dozen other nutrient. At the end of the day their recommendations to the department, that his advice to the department performing the next edition of the dietary guidelines.
▶ 0:40:18Dr. Stoody: Their advice was to maintain the current guidance. We are at a point where secretaries rollins and kennedy have acknowledged their commitment to supporting the development that the dietary guidelines to be released later this year. They have also discussed doing a line by line review.
▶ 0:40:44Dr. Stoody: 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 the 2025 committee needs to emphasize a healthy dietary pattern. Milk, is much better for our kids growing up?
▶ 0:41:10Dr. Stoody: Yes. I think the point of the dietary guidelines is there is flexibility. There's a number of different options. 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 in that context of the larger dietary pattern.
▶ 0:41:37Sen. Tuberville: Thank you.
▶ 0:41:41Sen. Bennet: Thank you very much. Thank you to all of you for having this hearing. Thank you for having this hearing today. I was the superintendent of schools and learn firsthand how important access to nutrition is.
▶ 0:42:10Sen. Bennet: They affect our kids ability to learn that the senator from alabama was talking about. Expanding access to nutrition programs, it is critical for kids and people have ♪ kids and people ha of all ages. To cut red tape and snap and help working families, single parents, people with disabilities put nutritious meals on the table.
▶ 0:42:37Sen. Bennet: I look forward to hearing your thoughts as the legislation develops to see how it could improve our program access, strengthen child nutrition and make sure we are knocking down barriers to accessing food. The chairman is in here but he and I worked for a long time to make sure the school calendar doesn't affect that.
▶ 0:43:05Sen. Bennet: We do it during the summer as well as when school is in session. I want to thank you for your testimony and your work at usda, during the 2020 3-2024 school years, schools across colorado served 184,000 breakfast and 435,000 lunches daily underscoring the significant role.
▶ 0:43:35Sen. Bennet: The community eligibility provision work in tandem to ensure students could have access to these meals. It helps families meet nutritional needs to help they have consistent access. Cdp leverages snap. They offer free breakfast and lunch.
▶ 0:44:03Sen. Bennet: I come to my question, providing free breakfast and lunch has been a proven increase with access to nutritional meals to make sure kids eat those nutritious meals for families. What implications would losing access to meals due to changes in snap and our ability to meet these nutritional goals?
▶ 0:44:32Dr. Stoody: Thank you for that question and appreciate your discussion around the broad range of programs. I'm hearing that in my capacity to the dietary guidelines. The programs that you reference they are related to the broader program.
▶ 0:44:55Sen. Bennet: What is the importance to our national commitment to the kids being able to get the nutrition that they need?
▶ 0:45:05Dr. Stoody: We all agree that it is important for children to eat healthy foods. There is a commitment and healthy aspect to promoting consumption in kids.
▶ 0:45:23Sen. Bennet: I have one other question but I will submit it for the record. >> senator grassley.
▶ 0:45:33Sen. Grassley: Thank you for your testimony. You spoke recently in your testimony about the need for consumption. The dietary needs has limited the amount of milk offered in schools for years. The most recent guidelines, higher fat amount with favorable growth and body consumption.
▶ 0:46:04Sen. Grassley: 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 the usda, do you think that decline has had a positive effect on children's health?
▶ 0:46:28Dr. Stoody: We want to promote the consumption of the diet that promotes the dietary guidelines. I think consumption has been declining. It is very important on how to promote healthier consumption. It is a great concern that dietary consumption has worsened over time. We are seeing an increased prevalence in obesity.
▶ 0:47:02Sen. Grassley: Lastly, do you think the continuing to restrict fat milk options will change the decline in milk consumption?
▶ 0:47:13Dr. Stoody: I don't have data to speak to you as we mentioned in the written testimony, there is data on the research service. It is the most commonly consumed forms of dairy. It is the most commonly consumed on the lowfat and then skim milk . On all types consumption is too low.
▶ 0:47:46Dr. Stoody: There is a variety of options to fit different needs and preferences. It is right for the individual child. Whatever that option is, we need to work to improve consumptions.
▶ 0:48:03Sen. Grassley: I yield back my time.
▶ 0:48:05Sen. Klobuchar: Very good, senator durbin is up next.
▶ 0:48:13Sen. Durbin: I took an interest in school lunches and started looking at my state and what the kids were eating. I went to roberto clemente high school in chicago. Largely african-american and hispanic. I asked them what did the kids eat for breakfast? The most popular breakfast here is a bag of flaming hocks and orange pop.
▶ 0:48:41Sen. Durbin: That would be what they would pick up to the store at the way to school. I went to westinghouse high school and asked to sit down at the lunch counter with school lunch. They didn't particularly want me to do that but I did anyway. They served corndogs, which we believe is the source of all life in the midwest. Pizza and french fries for vegetables.
▶ 0:49:16Sen. Durbin: I pay close attention as I hope my colleagues have of the trash cans. What has been thrown away by the students. It is too much foods being thrown away. I wonder that we could give speeches and analysis in washington, the bottom line is what will those kids eat during the course of school lunch.
▶ 0:49:41Sen. Durbin: I look at this controversy as to whether whole milk should be required and school lunches? Your background is in nutrition referred to, is that correct?
▶ 0:49:55Dr. Stoody: Yes.
▶ 0:50:00Sen. Durbin: I'm also sure that we are always asking the question when it comes to nutrition, too much fat, too much sugar, too much sodium. Those are the things that boil the conversation.
▶ 0:50:16Dr. Stoody: Those are key components that we look at.
▶ 0:50:23Sen. Durbin: I know where senator marshall is coming from. He is the initial milkman. I just have to ask this, look at the groups that oppose this bill . They include the academy of nutrition and dietetics. The american heart association. The american public health association.
▶ 0:50:49Sen. Durbin: The national association of pediatric nurses. You know any groups that support this bill?
▶ 0:51:04Dr. Stoody: I don't have information on that regard.
▶ 0:51:12Sen. Durbin: Has a study been done on kids that they will except 2% milk as the same as whole milk?
▶ 0:51:19Dr. Stoody: We don't have data just data on what is currently consumed the most commonly consumed is 2% and then lowfat and fat-free. We do have data across the board , current consumption seemed to increase. We need to have the consumption of dairy.
▶ 0:51:48Sen. Durbin: You figure 35% consumption.
▶ 0:51:54Dr. Stoody: Using the most recent data about 35% of adolescents consume milk on a given day.
▶ 0:52:04Sen. Durbin: I'm amazed it is that high. When you consider all of the advertising with sweetened drinks, what these kids are exposed to during the course of their lives. We need much more milk consumption. Moving in the direction towards pop drinks.
▶ 0:52:36Sen. Durbin: Thank you, I yield.
▶ 0:52:38Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you very much.
▶ 0:52:42Sen. Marshall: If you spare me a moment here I have to clear my throat a little bit. I could speak better now. I have a list of things I wanted to do. Save medicare, save medicaid.
▶ 0:53:15Sen. Marshall: It is a great day for us to have a hearing on this. Having this discussion as well. I think about whole milk growing up when my grandparents delivered milk to us. Part of a healthy diet. You think about the movement. You think about whole foods.
▶ 0:53:42Sen. Marshall: As a part of that vitamins that are so improvements that we need to absorb the vitamins. There is bad fats, good fats. What are the good fats, what are the good things that separated from the 1% and lesser fat parts of milk.
▶ 0:54:15Dr. Stoody: The dietary guidelines don't say whole milk is a bad thing to consume. In general concern during -- considering what they are, generally most should increase consumption and the best way to do that is through lower fat options. For those who are active.
▶ 0:54:52Dr. Stoody: It is really thinking about the overall contract -- contact of the diet. Dairy is a healthy choice. It really matters what you are eating with that dairy.
▶ 0:55:10Sen. Marshall: Some of the good things is it helps with hormone productions going through puberty, those type of things. They help with the hormone production. They also decrease your appetite . Would you agree or expand on those thoughts?
▶ 0:55:32Dr. Stoody: I'm aware of that research. We have an address to directly. I'm aware of the research you are reference thing. Yes.
▶ 0:55:45Sen. Marshall: Whole milk has amounts of omega-3 fatty acid and control as well.
▶ 0:55:54Dr. Stoody: The dietary guidelines that plan whole milk could be consumed. After that point, the recommendation towards lower fat, there is a bit of an evidence gap. The lower fat options with the officials.
▶ 0:56:23Dr. Stoody: Plan whole milk particularly in children.
▶ 0:56:29Sen. Marshall: Doesn't necessarily determine cause. The whole milk coming off school lunch menus we saw consumption of milk come down consistently. Senator durbin makes a good point about it has to taste good . I don't know that I'm aware of any of these studies either. They have seen milk consumption go down and whole milk was taken out of school lunches.
▶ 0:57:09Sen. Marshall: 2010, 2012, the lowfat and fat-free. Drinking fluid milk in the early 2000 has continued to decline. It is very concerning that current consumption in adolescence is about half a cup lower per day then it was two decades ago.
▶ 0:57:35Sen. Marshall: I want to make one more point. I want to make the point about my concern about osteoporosis. Bone mass density peaks around age 28. What we are seeing now is a generation of people reaching that age that didn't drink milk and their bone density is down to standard deviation, maybe it is more than that. When you reach that peak bone mass, that aging process starts.
▶ 0:58:06Sen. Marshall: It is hard to build bone mass beyond that. We are going to have women develop osteoporosis a decade sooner and we will see men suddenly have osteopenia. They have to thank senator welch for this. And those helping support this as well. Thank you for your leadership.
▶ 0:58:37Sen. Marshall: Vermont known as a great milk state. We will have to come back later to catch the thoughts on osteoporosis. I'm way past my time.
▶ 0:58:44Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you very much. Next up we have two senators. Even though vermont might be most identified, I think senator schiff was here first.
▶ 0:58:59Sen. Schiff: Thank you chairman and ranking member. Thanks for holding this here today. Thank you for being here. It is nice to be in the presence of another eve. My wife is a eve. Before we get to questions about the bill, as wae speak, my colleagues are drafting a bill that would eliminate school meal programs for millions of kids.
▶ 0:59:29Sen. Schiff: They will come to the senate as soon this week. The bill deserves attention. I don't see how we could discuss nutrition and 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.
▶ 0:59:56Sen. Schiff: Let me 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 for a field trip. The teacher told all of them to bring their lunch. Everyone -- figuring everyone had food at home on the school at the right side of town.
▶ 1:00:20Sen. Schiff: Lucy came to the cafeteria as they were boarding the bus and asked for something to drink because daddy didn't have anything to drink at home. Lucy had a small bag of fritos and two pieces of leftover halloween candy. I asked her 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 was all we had at home. Lucy relies on school lunch even on the good side of town when no one realizes she does.
▶ 1:00:50Sen. Schiff: Children suffer in silence 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. Let me turn to the question I have about this bill.
▶ 1:01:14Sen. Schiff: My question revolves on the absence of any alternative, those nondairy alternatives. The united states represented by members of the committee and millions of students who are lactose intolerant. Lactose-free milk is not always a good option because of cost to schools.
▶ 1:01:41Sen. Schiff: Some kids simply want a nondairy option at the same time requiring a formal written note for the alternative and the 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 improve health outcomes as well as a parent and student sense of choice to have easier access to nondairy alternatives?
▶ 1:02:11Dr. Stoody: Thank you for that question. I could speak first to the dietary guidelines and how it recommends to what is included in the dairy food groups. The dairy food group does include different milk options. It includes soy milk and yogurt as alternatives. I say alternatives but they are within the food group.
▶ 1:02:43Dr. Stoody: Their uses within school meals might be great. We also have data on that within the dietary guidelines themselves. Soy is provided with us and it could be a healthy way to meet dairy recommendations.
▶ 1:03:04Sen. Marshall: -- Sen. schiff: do you see the reason for that but not fortified soy milk from the nutritional point of view?
▶ 1:03:14Dr. Stoody: From a nutritional point of view, cows milk and soy milk are included in the same group and provide similar nutrient compositions.
▶ 1:03:27Sen. Schiff: I think you and this is not a denigration of the bill which I supported in the house but it is a call to include nondairy alternatives as well. With that, I yield back.
▶ 1:03:41Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you. Senator justice.
▶ 1:03:45Sen. Justice: Let me just say a few things about the state of west virginia. Just think about this for a second. I'm a coach, I'm with the kids all the time. That's probably why have all of this white hair. I'm really only 46 years old.
▶ 1:04:18Sen. Justice: When you've coached as many games as I have coached, 1300 some games. With all of that being said, you get white hair pretty easily. You get white hair easier if you are there with the kids. In west virginia one out of every five kids faces food insecurity every single day.
▶ 1:04:49Sen. Justice: It is sad beyond belief. When I was the governor of west virginia we made it a real priority to do something about hunger. We have an opportunity to do something that has an opportunity to do something so precious it is off the charts. It is unusual the first lady of west virginia when I was the governor and my wife kathy is with me here today.
▶ 1:05:21Sen. Justice: She did something that is off the charts. She did something with communities and schools that was absolutely directed right at healthy kids. Just think about it. We are absolutely looking at the possibility of whole milk and how much meaningfulness whole milk could bring to our children , many of our kids and our schools in west virginia, these
▶ 1:05:54Sen. Justice: Are the primary meals. That is all there is to it. If we can't step up and do the right thing for nutrition for our children and god knows there is many things that our kids are putting in their bodies that they shouldn't be putting in, that is all there is to it.
▶ 1:06:20Sen. Justice: With all that being said, being a coach and not just athletes, I want you to pay close attention to just this. Kids one good stuff to eat today. You may think kids just want junk to eat today. In all honesty, imagine this.
▶ 1:06:44Sen. Justice: Imagine having a kid that is a high school kid playing on your basketball team that has never eaten a candy bar in his life. It is really true. With all that being said, I'm 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 what we should be doing.
▶ 1:07:17Sen. Justice: We should be trying it every possible way we can to make our kids healthier, to give them the nutrition they need. I'm wholeheartedly in favor of moving forward with whole milk. I defer my remaining time.
▶ 1:07:41Sen. Klobuchar: Very good. I note you have been joined by your wife, kathy, we welcome her as well. Next up is senator welch. Senator lujan is next I'm sorry. Are you sure? Thanks.
▶ 1:08:09Sen. Welch: I was going to say you spoke for me, I appreciate that. I noticed my colleague from kansas is usually low-key and rarely shows off except in service of milk. I appreciate you doing that. What you said is so absolutely true. We use the word food insecure.
▶ 1:08:40Sen. Welch: Kids show up and they are hungry. I don't know where things got off the rails. We are looking forward to rogers box of milk when we got to school. Sometimes it was chocolate. Sometimes I guess we are not advocating it from here. Whole milk, chocolate.
▶ 1:09:09Sen. Welch: It is really reassuring to me, this bill about whole milk. It is about our farmers. School is a place where kids get the opportunity to get some decent nutrition. It doesn't matter what our politics are. It is tough for a lot of families to get healthy food.
▶ 1:09:37Sen. Welch: So much has happened in the food industry where in order to make a lot of profit, the enterprise is to sell food. You look at what a lot of the ingredients are on some of the things that are in the store. You have never heard of many of them. Whole food tends to be more locally produced.
▶ 1:10:11Sen. Welch: The virtuous cycle that happens when you are getting local product, from west virginia or vegetables grown locally that is healthy food but it is also locally produced and strengthens the rural economy. All of us in every one of our states is really suffering from incredible pressures on the rural economy that is making life very difficult.
▶ 1:10:38Sen. Welch: I just wanted to thank you for your leadership on this very practical and I think long-overdue legislation about whole milk. The other thing I have been impressed at, vermont is a big dairy state as you mentioned. There is immense amount of pride between dairy farmers. Who works harder? Maybe the coal miners. I was in one of your coal mines.
▶ 1:11:09Sen. Welch: They will give them a run for the money. That's the point. We could have a food system where we get nutritious food with people working very hard. The goal of a committed life to helping the kids. All of us have nutritious foods. We went off the rails when we made it tough for whole milk in schools.
▶ 1:11:37Sen. Welch: I also want to acknowledge your point about nutrition as a whole. Usda had some grants that resulted in vermont getting a dairy center. That resulted in facilities in the schools where kids could get milk where they wanted.
▶ 1:12:06Sen. Welch: Do you check everybody's wallet to see whether they have money in it? You took advantage of the fact that these kids are at school and they could go there and choose to drink milk. I hope that as we pursue this whole milk opportunity for our kids and our farmers, it is the beginning of the real commitment
▶ 1:12:37Sen. Welch: With food being a much bigger part of diets. Is this going to help us on the obit should issue that I think is a real problem for america if we could get back to milk products and other natural products?
▶ 1:12:53Dr. Stoody: I think we need to see how time goes. We are in a situation where the diets are so far from recommendations across the board. We have the recommendations, fruits, grains, in general, 80%-90% of people in the U.S. do not meet the recommendations for fruits, dairy.
▶ 1:13:24Dr. Stoody: We consume too many. We consume too much saturated fat. This is one piece of the puzzle to incorporate more dairy. We have a large nutrition problem. It has action across multiple fronts.
▶ 1:13:48Sen. Welch: Thank you, my time is up. We could do something that is good, let's do it. Thank you.
▶ 1:13:54Sen. Klobuchar: Senator lujan, at least you didn't have to wait long.
▶ 1:14:01Sen. Lujan: Thank everyone for this important hearing today. It is my understanding that we are gathered here for a hearing titled the whole milk for helping kids act. C1 I just want that to sink in a little bit. Improving children's health.
▶ 1:14:32Sen. Lujan: I appreciate 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 supplementing the nutrition assistance program. My colleagues from across the aisle want to cut $230 billion from snap.
▶ 1:14:58Sen. Lujan: This comes while president trump pushes for the largest peacetime tax increase in modern U.S. history through sweeping tariffs. Republicans are planning to slash benefits to help keep food on the table for families. It would be important to have a hearing about that as well.
▶ 1:15:24Sen. Lujan: These are not an abstract number , these are real kids, real people, people that we all represent. It is the difference between having a hot lunch at school and food in the cupboards when they come home and going hungry. Nearly one in four kids rely on snap benefits.
▶ 1:15:54Sen. Lujan: Sometimes they don't even get to choose what they get to eat. I want to thank you for being here. I appreciated the information you provided in your testimony about the impacts of consumption on the health of children. One in four children in the united states rely. $9.5 billion of dairy products.
▶ 1:16:27Sen. Lujan: Purchased by snap. A bunch of us represent states with strong dairies. I do as well. I wonder what the conversations are like when we are talking to these dairy families and saying, don't worry. These snap cuts are not going to devastate your practice. Don't worry, you don't have to get rid of it.
▶ 1:16:51Sen. Lujan: We need to face this for what it is unlike senator welch said, a wise person once said that it is never a bad time to do what is right.
▶ 1:17:07Sen. Lujan: I have a few questions, did president trump and the usda cut $1 billion in funding for schools and food banks to buy fresh locally grown food by eliminating the local food and school program and the local food purchase assistance cooperative agreement program?
▶ 1:17:24Dr. Stoody: Sir, I'm here is the subject matter expert related to dietary guidelines. I can't speak to that but we are happy to bring it back to the department.
▶ 1:17:33Sen. Lujan: I can answer it and the answer is yes. On march 7 the usda terminated the local food purchase assistance cooperative agreement program. Did president trump and the usda cancel the patrick leahy farm to school program which provided schools support for providing local lunches and breakfasts?
▶ 1:17:58Dr. Stoody: I'm not able to answer that question.
▶ 1:18:02Sen. Lujan: The answer to that is also yes. They notified grant applicants on march 24 that the fiscal year 2025 competition was canceled. Yes or no, did president trump and the usda decrease $500 million to food banks without explanation?
▶ 1:18:28Dr. Stoody: I'm not able to answer that question.
▶ 1:18:31Sen. Lujan: The answer is yes. The usda suspended millions of dollars intended for food banks for the emergency food assistance program. I have several others as examples here. I didn't even get a chance to visit about whole milk.
▶ 1:18:53Sen. Lujan: We were blessed to have a dairy down the street where I grew up and my friends still make fun of me because when I get a carton of milk from the grocery store I shake it. They asked me why are you shaking that carton? It is how I grew up. You had to shake it if you were going to enjoy it because the cream rose to the shop -- top. My debate is not about whole milk. I think I support it.
▶ 1:19:20Sen. Lujan: But if we want more whole will -- whole milk to families across the country, let's have that debate and let's get a farm bill done. Let support producers across the country and the supplemental nutrition program. So when they are having conversations about the planting schedule year because they know who they will be able to sell food to and the rug gets pulled out to them after they made a year of decisions, it doesn't make sense.
▶ 1:19:52Sen. Lujan: I think we can do things better around here. Thank you for the time. I yield back.
▶ 1:19:59Chair Boozman: Thank you, Dr. stoody, for being here today. We do appreciate your testimony very much and it is always very helpful. Let's take a second and get together panel in place.
▶ 1:21:36Chair Boozman: Ok, I think we are back in business. I would like to introduce Dr. keith ayood keith ayoob. For over 32 years, he directed the nutrition clinic as part of the children's evaluation and rehabilitation center and he is also a registered dietitian and nutritionist.
▶ 1:22:06Chair Boozman: Working mostly with low income minority children, families in the bronx. Thank you for being here today, Dr. ayoob, I look forward to your testimony.
▶ 1:22:21Dr. Ayoob: Thank you chairman, ranking member klobuchar, and the committee for the opportunity to speak to you about the whole milk for healthy kids act. I'm the associate professor emeritus of pediatrics at the albert einstein college of music in new york. It is a large diagnostic and treatment center at einstein for children and families with special needs.
▶ 1:22:51Dr. Ayoob: I'm also a registered dietitian nutritionist. We serve mostly low income minority children and families in the bronx and testifying before congress is not typically part of my job. I'm here because the issue matters to the children I see so it matters to me.
▶ 1:23:10Dr. Ayoob: Dairy milk in schools and 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 and most americans including children are not getting adequate amounts.
▶ 1:23:32Dr. Ayoob: A plethora of scientific literature demonstrates the consumption of cows milk provides children with better bone health, a lower risk for type two diabetes and a lower risk for cardiovascular disease. The systematic review of studies that looked at cardio metabolic health from children ages 2-18 found the consumption of dairy foods had no association with cardio metabolic risk.
▶ 1:24:03Dr. Ayoob: Historically, we have 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 in a protein fat matrix and in this form the body seems to handle it differently.
▶ 1:24:28Dr. Ayoob: They appear not to decrease that one. Other foods and lower bad cholesterol. Numerous systematic reviews found that higher fat and milk consumption were associated with lower child hood obesity.
▶ 1:24:58Dr. Ayoob: In 2010, 1 whole milk and reduced fat milk were reduced from schools, obesity was about 17%. Since then, obesity prevalence has increased. It is now 21%. Clearly whole milk was not the issue here. The type of milk was not the cause and it is not the cure.
▶ 1:25:27Dr. Ayoob: Children are not drinking milk in school because they don't have the type of milk they prefer, one would postulate they would lose weight and this is not happening. No matter what type of milk is in school, none of it is nutritious in still -- until students drink it. Giving children the kind of milk option they like can encourage participation in school meal programs.
▶ 1:25:54Dr. Ayoob: Most of the children that I see her from low income families and specifically milk provides 22% of the calcium 40% of the vitamin d in the american diet but in a study of low income children, 70% of their daily milk intake came from school meals.
▶ 1:26:14Dr. Ayoob: In conclusion milk including low fat milk reduced fat milk, and whole milk and skim and lactose-free varieties represents a nutrient package that you will not be able to find in any other single food or beverage. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your westerns.
▶ 1:26:36Chair Boozman: Thank you, Dr. ayoob. We will hear from Mrs. krista byler, who serves as the district foods district -- food service director at union city area school district and spent several years working as a professional chef prior to entering school nutrition into thousand five. Mrs.
▶ 1:27:03Chair Boozman: Byler comes from a family of dairy farmers and brings her appreciation for agriculture and her passion to school nutrition. Thank you for taking time away from your family and your students to be with us today.
▶ 1:27:18Mrs. Byler: Chairman, 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 the food service director and district chef.
▶ 1:27:44Mrs. Byler: When I began my career in nutrition, it was for selfish reasons. The schedule lined better with my family life and few foodservice 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'm here today is that passion for child nutrition.
▶ 1:28:16Mrs. Byler: The other half as senator boozman mentioned, I come from a dairy family. I grew up in my grandfather's dairy backyard and I have been married for 24 years to a once dairy farmer now turned beef producer. So dairy holds a huge space in my heart obviously, as does child nutrition.
▶ 1:28:42Mrs. Byler: In 2010, when the child reauthorization was passed, I was very concerned about how the school milk changes would affect our students and our dairy farm families in pennsylvania and nationwide. I kept a close eye on of the milk consumption and waste that we started seeing in about 2012 when the act actually was put into practice.
▶ 1:29:09Mrs. Byler: It was heartbreaking what I was seeing at our little 1000 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 so we were seeing a huge increase in waste and a huge decline in the amount of milk I was
▶ 1:29:40Mrs. Byler: Ordering because students were not choosing to take milk. In the spring of 2018 I attended the legislation action committee put on in washington, D.C. where I had the opportunity to meet with a group of school nutrition professionals that were like in their concern for the school milk waste. As well, there were some dairy interest groups there as well.
▶ 1:30:08Mrs. Byler: 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 trial. We begin offering all levels of milk fat and flavors and non-flavored.
▶ 1:30:38Mrs. Byler: The results are astounding. In my written testimony if you would like to check out the data , it is there for you to read. What I want to drive home today is two main data points.
▶ 1:30:53Mrs. Byler: The 50% increase in milk consumption and the 95% reduction in milk waste just because we offered a variety of milk choices that fit our students' needs. This is a win for our students as well as our farmers. We need to be the changemakers that our students and dairy farmers both need.
▶ 1:31:21Mrs. Byler: We need to bring back the ability to offer milk fat choice in schools including nutrient dense whole milk which is just 3.2 5% milk. I would be remiss if I didn't address the concerns regarding local food cuts, cep reduction, the patrick leahy programs.
▶ 1:31:45Mrs. Byler: Unfortunately, those cuts combined with the increasing cost of procurement may force schools to scale back or abandon some of the efforts they have put into place recently that are really incredible and the school meals you heard about today I can firsthand say that there are some incredible things happening that do not speak to that and I hate to see those cut due to the lack of funding.
▶ 1:32:14Mrs. Byler: I believe access to good, nutrient dense school food is a basic right of education. School meals are an essential school supply. Thank you for the opportunity to speak and I welcome any questions you might have.
▶ 1:32:27Chair Boozman: Thank you. Dr. linette dodson serves as the deputy superintendent of school nutrition for the georgia department of education. Prior to joining the 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 the meals during the pandemic earned her georgia's big voices for children award.
▶ 1:33:00Chair Boozman: Thank you for joining us today. We look forward to your testimony.
▶ 1:33:11Dr. Dodson: Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the importance of the national school meal programs and share current challenges and best practices. I'm the deputy superintendent of school nutrition for the 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 school district.
▶ 1:33:40Dr. Dodson: I have seen the positive impacts the national school meal programs 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 impact the health of our nation's children if properly supported and a valuable partner in education. School meals can integrate food-based learning to learn about food, enhance their education, and improve their diets.
▶ 1:34:12Dr. Dodson: School meals are a science-based investment in our 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 dietary habits during the school year falter when school is out. This is why summer meal programs are essential.
▶ 1:34:40Dr. Dodson: They provide children with continued access to meals even outside of the school setting. The recent flexibility allowing to go meal options in rural areas has expanded our reach, insuring more children in need receive healthy food while school is out.
▶ 1:34:58Dr. Dodson: I think it is important for the committee to understand there are serious challenges the programs are facing today including soaring food costs labor shortages and program complexities. Many programs are challenged just like consumers with increased costs in all these areas.
▶ 1:35:27Dr. Dodson: Expanded reimbursement is needed . There are complex program regulations that require extensive staff training and support and take away from nutritious foods continuing to simplify the program and reduce administrative burdens would allow more focus to be on the food actually served to students.
▶ 1:35:53Dr. Dodson: Beyond the need for increased reimbursement, the programs have benefited from additional investments. The fresh fruit and vegetable program introduces it to elementary school students.
▶ 1:36:27Dr. Dodson: Grants improved the quality of these meals and provided direct support for these farmers. All of these supports have only strengthened the program and could be increased to increase impacts. Our local districts embrace innovation to focus on the quality of meals our culture moves beyond just regulatory compliance.
▶ 1:36:58Dr. Dodson: Applying culinary techniques, food safety standards. The standard should be greater than just meeting the requirements. For georgia, it is a quality meal being provided to every student in every school every single day. Thank you from our nations school-age children and nutrition professionals for the financial commitment for 80 years.
▶ 1:37:35Dr. Dodson: Providing quality school meals please consider expanding the reimbursement rates, invest in farm to school and local purchasing programs and grant initiatives to streamline program regulations. Our goal should be to make sure there is a meal for every student every day in our nation school.
▶ 1:38:03Chair Boozman: Thank you.
▶ 1:38:07Sen. Klobuchar: Mr. gorman, I know you have served as the food service director for michigan area public schools for many years and you are a graduate of the school of business at michigan state university with a bachelors degree in hotel restaurant management in addition to your work as
▶ 1:38:37Sen. Klobuchar: Director, you have served in a number of roles related to child attrition and school meals and you have served as well. We thank you and welcome you to this hearing.
▶ 1:38:52Mr. Gorman: I appreciate this opportunity. My name is dan gorman, I've been the school food service director in montague and north muskegon public schools for the past 26 years but today I would like to talk about this doll or. This dollar is allocated by congress for school meals. In my opinion, it is the best dollar the government spends. We have been given the mission in school fields, feed america's children.
▶ 1:39:25Mr. Gorman: 30 million lunches, 50 million breakfasts. Offering well-balanced meals. What else does the dollar do? Those 45 million meals are bought from american farmers, dairies, and ranchers funding food manufacturers, distributors, and provides meaningful work to lunch ladies across the nation.
▶ 1:39:53Mr. Gorman: School meals serve as a financial and nutritional safety net for millions of kids. 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. But what worries me more is the proposals that would reduce community eligibility provision and diver resources away from schools. Cep is smart government.
▶ 1:40:26Mr. Gorman: It takes an economic snapshot of the community called the isp using snap and medicaid data. Schools with an isp of 25% or higher qualify for cep to account for families not eligible and rolled in snap, cep applies a 1.6 multiplier.
▶ 1:40:50Mr. Gorman: In north muskegon, our isp is 25% and we can offer free meals to our students. Luckily michigan is a healthy school meals for allstate and the state picks up the additional 60% of our cost shortfall. Cep is a great success. In north muskegon we saw a 300% increase in our participation and a 30% increase in our lunch participation.
▶ 1:41:25Mr. Gorman: Our ability to focus on student meals, the proposal to raise the threshold from 25% to 60% would devastate our districts I oversee and schools nationwide. It passed -- if passed, our schools would lose cep and free meal access.
▶ 1:41:58Mr. Gorman: My family would have to fill out an application and I would review it and make sure everything is right and then someone from our state office every 3-5 years, they would come look at the piece of paper and then we would 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.
▶ 1:42:25Mr. Gorman: If the house budget chairs proposal to increase house income verification passes I would have to process over 1000 applications a year. There are large school districts that would have the burden of about 20,000 applications. 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.
▶ 1:42:53Mr. Gorman: A resilient nation requires strong farms and these programs build that resilience and must continue. This committee has a long history of getting things done while other things might work differently in these halls. This has been a group that always works for america. I'm incredibly grateful to be here to share this message. Our students can't be successful without this.
▶ 1:43:24Mr. Gorman: I'm ready to help in any way to make this dollar work better for our kids.
▶ 1:43:30Chair Boozman: Thank you very much and we do appreciate you and the helpful testimony. Mrs. byler, you highlighted the significant reduction in the milk waste as a result of the trial you conducted. Can you expand on how limiting this waste has led to increased and how expanding choice could result in less milk being thrown away?
▶ 1:43:59Mrs. Byler: Absolutely. I can only speak for my district. I will give them credit. They all tried it. The majority decided they didn't like it.
▶ 1:44:23Mrs. Byler: So, 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.
▶ 1:44:48Mrs. Byler: 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. So 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.
▶ 1:45:17Chair Boozman: Thank you. Dr. ayoob, 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 have drawn a correlation between milk and obesity in the past?
▶ 1:45:39Dr. Ayoob: There actually is no correlation between milk and obesity. The correlation is actually inverse. The crater -- greater consumption of dairy foods has shown less obesity. Building on what Mrs. byler set 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 use to.
▶ 1:46:13Dr. Ayoob: They may take that carton of milk. I'm concerned they drained that carton of milk. That is different than if they actually drain it. If they do finish that carton.
▶ 1:46:39Dr. Ayoob: I certainly submitted it in my testimony that the dairy fat in milk, when it is combined with the protein fat matrix, it is handled a different way by the body.
▶ 1:46:57Dr. Ayoob: Study after study has shown and a review of studies has shown that greater consumption of dairy foods, including whole fat dairy foods, has been associated with less obesity and less cardio metabolic risk. Now, I want kids to eat a full meal, I want the whole meal to be consumed. If kids get the options.
▶ 1:47:23Dr. Ayoob: I'm not talking about taking any options away from kids, but I want the full access that they should have for the range of options that are available and 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. That is away I can do that.
▶ 1:47:53Chair Boozman: Senator klobuchar?
▶ 1:47:55Sen. Klobuchar: I will go to you, Dr. ayoob. You talked about the critical importance of healthy eating, nutrition during childhood, especially with respect to calcium. Can you explain in more detail about why this period of life is so important in terms of a nutrition and nutrients?
▶ 1:48:18Dr. Ayoob: Thank you, I would love to. We don't have our whole lives to build our bone bank. We have the first 25 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 and calcium.
▶ 1:48:44Dr. Ayoob: If they skip the milk in school, that might seem like it is no big deal for a day or even a week, but if they forgo 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. And we owe our kids better than that.
▶ 1:49:07Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you.
▶ 1:49:08Dr. Ayoob: Can I add to that just one second? I think it was mentioned earlier that we will see earlier osteoporosis and osteopenia. We always think it is an old person disease, but it is a pediatric disease with lung consequences.
▶ 1:49:36Sen. Klobuchar: Do you think we have made progress in school meal health?
▶ 1:49:40Mrs. Byler: Yes, I'm seeing success stories with farm to school program, through the patrick leahy program, the healthy meals initiatives, there are a lot of fantastic programs available that have helped school districts. There is a huge movement. Culinary professionals are moving into school programs.
▶ 1:50:07Sen. Klobuchar: We have done meta cutting in minnesota. A lot of knives, it is very good.
▶ 1:50:18Mrs. Byler: We are seeing local beef and produce in schools.
▶ 1:50:21Sen. Klobuchar: School meal programs support american farmers can you talk about how you use the credit and how it supports families in georgia?
▶ 1:50:34Dr. Dodson: Absolutely, it is a huge factor. At least 20% of our school meals in georgia are sourced locally. Most recently from the initiative, they were sourced from the dod fresh program.
▶ 1:51:04Dr. Dodson: We were serving about $6 million of local program. There was a lot of georgia food being served on our trays.
▶ 1:51:15Sen. Klobuchar: Mr. gorman, I liked your enthusiastic testimony. You have said enthusiastic inclusion has made as much of a difference, can you tell why community eligibility stands out?
▶ 1:51:34Mr. Gorman: I have noticed in my 26 years in schools, it has been the last five years when I've been qualified for the cep program and I have noticed the difference of really just the time I have to do things. We are able to focus on school meals.
▶ 1:52:03Sen. Klobuchar: We talk in your testimony about snap cuts undermining the ability to serve your kids with food eligibility. I asked earlier and our usda expert who I respect is going to get back to us on that. That is right in front of us right now. Can you talk about why this is the case and what the impact would be?
▶ 1:52:23Mr. Gorman: Snap is the way most of our children qualify for school meals and if they come off that program, they could not program for school meals. What that does is it returns hunger to the classroom. It is humiliating for a child, painful and most likely unnecessary.
▶ 1:52:48Sen. Klobuchar: Some people have proposed raising the threshold for community eligibility to 60% 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?
▶ 1:53:06Dr. Dodson: Yes, ma'am. Currently, we have 1290 six schools out of our 2300 that operate with community eligibility 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.
▶ 1:53:39Sen. Klobuchar: Thank you for your thoughtful testimony in thank you, senator boozman. >> thank you and thank you to my coleader on this legislation. Thank you for taking the time out of your day for something near and dear to all of your hearts. Can I call you chef?
▶ 1:54:03Mrs. Byler: Yes. >> I didn't get to hear all of your testimony, I'm reviewing it here, but it sounds to me like when you offer students a choice of milk, consumption goes up. Can you speak to that again? Giving choices?
▶ 1:54:21Mrs. Byler: Absolutely. The milk we were ordering increased by 50% and the waste decreased by 95%.
▶ 1:54:32Sen. Klobuchar: That is incredible, that is absolutely incredible when we do a little education, a little coaching, a little teaching on a few choices . I'm sure you have to think about cost a little bit. I hate to ask a question I don't know the answer, but is milk an expensive item?
▶ 1:54:59Sen. Klobuchar: 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?
▶ 1:55:06Mrs. Byler: Sure, nationwide we have $4.50 to put a lunch together, including all of our overhead costs. In pennsylvania where I'm at in northwestern pennsylvania, the cost of milk is about $.27.
▶ 1:55:19Sen. Marshall: For a carton?
▶ 1:55:22Mrs. Byler: Correct.
▶ 1:55:23Sen. Marshall: Growing up at 10:00 every morning, the milk lady came in I had a dime to spend on them. I had an extra milk ticket to punch at lunch because my parents wanted me to have extra milk. 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 are trying to bring home milk back into the school?
▶ 1:55:51Mrs. Byler: I think it was said very well several times today that we can do better. We would see just -- a decrease in waste and satisfaction for students would be through the
▶ 1:56:10Roof. Sen. Marshall: Can one of the choices would be home milk.
▶ 1:56:12Mrs. Byler: Absolutely.
▶ 1:56:15Sen. Marshall: You are a pediatrician, right?
▶ 1:56:19Dr. Ayoob: I'm not a medical doctor, I'm a doctor of nutrition.
▶ 1:56:23Sen. Marshall: You started talking about osteopenia and osteoporosis. There is nothing more challenging in life when a woman has osteoporosis and their vertebrae have collapsed. It is not like replacing a hip. I can't help those folks out.
▶ 1:56:48Sen. Marshall: Speak a little bit more about what you are seeing clinically about osteoporosis and osteopenia and you reach your maximum density around 26, 28 and it is downhill unless you are taking aggressive medications.
▶ 1:57:00Dr. Ayoob: I can tell you my clinic deals mostly with kids but I see what happens with their parents. They do suffer, they do pay the price. I take dietary histories of all the kids I see. I always want to focus on a balance of nutrients.
▶ 1:57:29Dr. Ayoob: If I see food groups they are missing, I know what kind of milk is offered, it is skin and 1%. It may not be what they are used to, but that is a missed opportunity. That is a missed opportunity. Some kids will drink the milk fine and I'm not worried about taking away options.
▶ 1:57:57Dr. Ayoob: So kids can get the milk they want.
▶ 1:58:02Sen. Marshall: I meant to ask what the options were these days, but sugar sodas are not just neutral when it comes to osteoporosis, it is actually going the wrong direction. Go ahead.
▶ 1:58:16Dr. Ayoob: Also, if kids don't get the kind of milk jet they drink, they will and the school day with eight ounces less fluid, they will be thirsty and hungry and they will go right down to the corner where I live in new york city and they will buy some 24 ounce bottle of swill that is basically sugar water.
▶ 1:58:41Dr. Ayoob: They are going to buy something that will have a lot more sugar than they get an entire week in school, but even then it has no nutrition in it. That is losing.
▶ 1:58:56Sen. Marshall: Soto you just don't lose the benefits of milk, it is also hard on your bones. Is that right, chef?
▶ 1:59:03Mrs. Byler: Yes.
▶ 1:59:05Sen. Marshall: I better yield back.
▶ 1:59:07Chair Boozman: Senator risch.
▶ 1:59:11Senator Risch: Thank you very much. One of the reasons I so appreciate this committee led by you and senator klobuchar is the kind of witnesses we get. You guys are doing good work, really appreciate it. You found a way and 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.
▶ 1:59:47Senator Risch: There is so much pressure in our communities that pull families apart and make it tough for parents managing their kids. And food is so essential. 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 has committed to doing everything we can.
▶ 2:00:18Senator Risch: I will start by asking, put it in the context of broader issues of the nutrition programs. We have debates about funding any kind of program and that is fair and square. I literally have not heard any witness including the most fiscally conservative folks here who have anything that they object to with respect to school nutrition.
▶ 2:00:47Senator Risch: We have a debate about whether it should be needs-based or whatever. I have also felt there was a socialization element to kids having a meal together.
▶ 2:01:16Dr. Dodson: I think school meals have a unique opportunity. I honestly believe it could be a tremendous solution for our nation's health. We can model healthy eating, expose children to a wide variety of locally grown foods that are healthy and nutritious and we have seen the combination of that with nutrition education and food based learning is a way
▶ 2:01:51Dr. Dodson: And to get students more comfortable with the food choices being served. Education has that opportunity.
▶ 2:02:15Sen. Welch: Thank you. Mr. gorman, my predecessor in the senate from vermont is that man who is staring at us right from his picture up there, former chairman of the agriculture committee, patrick lahey, and we are very proud of all he did. One of his many accomplishments was the patrick lahey farm to school and local schools cooperative program.
▶ 2:02:42Sen. Welch: That was terminated for the rest of this fiscal year and I understand it will be reinstated next year. Can you comment on the benefit of senators lou -- senator lahey's legacy program that was supported with a strong bipartisan majority in the U.S. senate?
▶ 2:03:02Dr. Dodson: --Mr. gorman: thank you for that question. We were a recipient of the grant and had applied again this year and got the notice it was closed and it was crushing to us. It is a jump to local food movements. I think about over the past 10-15 years, it started us figuring out the local infrastructure and getting more local food and starting school gardens.
▶ 2:03:34Dr. Dodson: 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 food is, to make those connections.
▶ 2:03:52Dr. Dodson: 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. We got that to start putting those pieces together.
▶ 2:04:13Sen. Welch: Thank you very much. Before I yield back I just want to say this committee as an opportunity to help the senate be a better senate and I think one of the things we can do is get the specific bills we agree on and move them, like senator marshall's whole milk bill. I would suggest to the chairman to move that.
▶ 2:04:46Chair Boozman: Thanks to the panel for being here. I was very impressed as was the rest of the committee by your thoughtfulness. And with that, the record will remain open for five business days and this hearing is adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]