Senator Marshall in Agriculture Committee Hearing: Bring Back Whole Milk to American Schools

Washington – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas) participated in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry hearing today on his legislation, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. This bipartisan bill would bring back whole and reduced milk to American schools.

Senator Marshall highlighted the health benefits of consuming whole milk and how it ties into the Make America Healthy Again movement, which focuses on transparency, increasing access to whole, nutritious foods, and improving the health outcomes of all Americans.

Senator Marshall is an OB-GYN with over 25 years of experience practicing medicine. He is also the founder and chairman of the Make America Healthy Again Caucus.

Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full line of questioning.

Highlights from the hearing include: 

On the importance of whole milk to the Make America Healthy Again movement:

Senator Marshall: “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 Medicare, save Medicaid, balance the budget, and get whole milk back in school. So, this is a great day for us to have a hearing on this, and I do appreciate the members of the Ag Committee coming here and having this discussion…”

“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… and how important whole milk is.

“You think about the MAHA movement, the Make America Healthy Again movement, it’s 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.”

On the health benefits of whole milk:

Senator Marshall: “I’m going to just talk a little bit more about healthy fats. And some of the good things about these healthy fats is [they help] with hormone production. So think about adolescents going through puberty, those types of things. So there’s good fats that help with that hormone production. Also, there are good studies to 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. Eve Stoody, Director of Nutrition Guidance and Analysis Division, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion at United States Department of Agriculture: “I am aware of that research. We haven’t addressed it directly in the dietary guidelines, but I’m aware of the research that you’re referencing. So yes.”

Senator Marshall: “You also would agree with me that whole milk has small amounts of omega-three fatty acids, which support brain health and inflammation control 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, and then after that point, the recommendation is to move towards lower fat.

“There’s a bit of an evidence gap as to exactly when that transition to lower fat options might be most beneficial, but there’s definitely benefits of plain whole milk, particularly in young children, to supporting brain development.”

On the decrease of milk consumption:

Senator Marshall: “Well, association doesn’t necessarily determine the 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 don’t know that I’m aware of any good studies either proving my point, but certainly it seems to me that whole milk tastes a whole lot better, and that we’ve seen milk consumption go down when whole milk was taken out of the school lunches. Would that be accurate?”

Dr. Stoody: “I don’t have data for specifically school meals, and what has happened since, for example, 2010, 2012 when it moved towards just low fat and fat-free. But we do see that, as you mentioned at the national level, we see that milk consumption really drinking fluid milk starting to decline in the early 2000s and it has continued to decline. And I think it is very concerning, that current consumption in adolescence is about half a cup lower per day than it was, you know, two decades ago, right?”

On osteoporosis, osteopenia due to lack of milk consumption:

Senator Marshall: “I still want to make the point about my concern about osteoporosis and osteopenia, that bone mass density peaks around age 28, and what we’re 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’s more than that.

“So 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’s really hard to build bone mass beyond then. So we’re going to have women develop osteopenia, osteoporosis a decade sooner, and we’re going to see men suddenly also have osteopenia as well.”