HARRISBURG, Pa. — Lawmakers moved six bills aimed at improving the current state of the Commonwealth's dairy industry out of the House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Three of these bills — House Bill 223, 224 and 2397 — are all sponsored by State Representative John Lawrence (R-Chester, Lancaster).
The three seek to create tax incentives to locate new dairy processing plants, enable the state's Milk Marketing Board to ensure the dairy farmers receive state-mandated milk premiums, and allow school districts to serve whole and 2% milk to students, respectively.
Under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, adopted by the Obama Administration in 2010, public schools were only allowed to serve flavored or unflavored milk that is low-fat or nonfat.
"House Bill 2397 would...[allow] Pennsylvania schools to buy Pennsylvania milk produced on a Pennsylvania farm with Pennsylvania funds to serve Pennsylvania children," said Rep. Lawrence. "As long as all of that happens in Pennsylvania, that's really not an issue that's under the purview of the federal government."
Rick Ebert, the president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, adds low-fat and fat-free milk are simply distasteful for many children. He says that only results in milk being wasted.
"We thought it was important to make sure that they have the option to have whole milk or whole chocolate milk in their school lunch program," said Ebert. "Whole milk provides more nutrients — more dense, rich nutrients — and we want to make sure our kids have that healthy option to drink milk."
Dairy farm advocates strongly support this legislation and want to remind Pennsylvanians of the role milk plays in our daily lives.
The Pa. Dairymen's Association reminds folks that milk is the official beverage of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and that the Keystone State is home to 5,430 dairy-farm families.
Dairy alone contributes $12.6 billion in revenue to the state. From a health point, an eight-ounce serving of whole milk delivers 13 essential nutrients, including eight grams of protein.
In response to the Wednesday morning vote, Dave Smith, the executive director of the Pa. Dairymen's Association, provided the following statement to FOX43:
“Offering students a choice of whole milk and whole, flavored milks like chocolate milk, the popular refuel beverage of so many athletes, is supported by Pennsylvania farmers all across our state, the home of the second-largest number of dairy farms in the country. Our world-class, delicious and nutritious dairy products should be allowed in schools. Not only is milk essential to a healthy diet and for our growing youth, but it also fuels a student with nine essential nutrients and vitamins all day. We support Representatives Owlett and Lawrence‘s latest legislation that allows whole milk back into our schools and applaud their leadership, along with that of Congressman Thompson and Senator Toomey. We have lost an entire generation of milk drinkers due to the federal government’s 2010 mandate that only skims milk could be served in schools. The skim milk-only mandate hurts our kids, hurts our farmers, hurts our economy, and hurts the state’s largest sector of our #1 industry.”
