Senate Democrats have blocked a bill that would have allowed whole milk in school lunch programs

Senate Democrats Block Legislation Allowing⁢ Schools to Serve Whole Milk

Senate Democrats blocked an opportunity to vote this ‌week on ⁣legislation allowing schools enrolled in the National School Lunch Program to serve⁢ whole‍ milk.

On Thursday, Democrat Chairwoman of⁢ the Senate Agriculture Committee Debbie Stabenow refused to allow lawmakers a ⁢vote on the Whole⁢ Milk For Healthy Kids Act, which passed the House Wednesday. The legislation amends the Richard Russell National School⁣ Lunch Act to allow schools with federally ‍subsidized lunch programs⁣ to offer whole milk‍ alongside low-fat⁣ varieties.

“Access to healthy and ⁢nutritious whole milk should not be controversial,” said Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. “I was heartened to see the overwhelming bipartisan support for our bill ‍last night in the House. With this momentum, we thought we had a real opportunity to come together and get a bipartisan win in the Senate to close​ out the year.”

It remains unclear why the Democrats blocked the measure. When‌ reached for comment ⁤Friday, Stabenow’s office ⁣referred The Federalist to the senator’s brief remarks on the⁣ Senate floor Thursday night.

Stabenow cited incumbent dietary guidelines that ​broadly recommend ⁣a​ low-fat​ diet.

“Dairy is a very important part of a balanced meal, but one thing is clear,” Stabenow said, “and that is that school meal standards, currently based on dietary science, should continue to be based on ‌dietary guidelines, not based on which individual ​food products ​that we support.”

“At this point in time, I do not believe it’s in the‌ best interest to be able to move forward ⁤on this bill,” Stabenow finished.

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‍ finally proposed an update to the agency’s definition of “health” to promote foods ‍higher in saturated fat content, such as salmon, ‌over ultra-processed cereals. The USDA, Stabenow mentioned, “is in the process ‌right now [of] updating ‍school meal[] standards.”

Americans, however, are slowly waking up to⁣ the devastation ⁢of​ the low-fat diet ⁤institutionalized by policymakers and major public health groups such as the American Heart Association (AHA), ⁤which endorsed the ⁢diet regimen more⁢ than 60 years ‌ago.⁢ And they’re waking ⁢up with a hangover. About 6 in 10 American adults are suffering from at least ⁤one chronic disease, and 4 in 10 suffer from at least two, according to ​the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Childhood ​obesity, meanwhile, has reached epidemic⁢ levels, with⁣ nearly 1 in 5 ⁢ children being categorically obese.

While it ‍might ‍be‌ a stretch to say the dietary guidelines caused the unprecedented outbreak of ‌obesity and disease, the low-fat ⁣recommendations certainly haven’t prevented present health crises.

Nina Teicholz spent nearly a decade researching the science behind health authorities’ embrace ‌of a low-fat diet and published her findings in her 2014 book, Read More From Original Article Here: Senate Democrats Block Bill To Allow Whole Milk In School Lunch Programs