House clears whole milk for school menus [View all]

Source: Roll Call

Posted December 15, 2025 at 6:06pm


​Whole milk is poised to return to the menu for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program for the first time in over a decade. The House cleared a bill Monday for the president’s desk that would put whole milk back into K-12 schools. The chamber passed the measure by voice vote less than a month after the Senate passed it by unanimous consent.

“This is a win for kids, parents, Kansas dairy farmers, and common sense,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement Monday. “The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act puts nutrition back in the lunchroom, gives families more choice, and ensures our children have access to the nutrients they need to grow strong and healthy.” The bill would allow public schools to serve flavored and unflavored, organic and nonorganic whole and 2 percent milk.

The National School Lunch Program currently allows schools to serve only fat-free and low-fat, flavored and unflavored milk. The measure has the backing of House Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson. The Pennsylvania Republican has for years tried to get whole milk back into schools. He sponsored the House version that was approved, 24-10, by the House Education and Workforce Committee in February.

The Senate bill includes a provision aimed at making it easier for students to get nondairy beverages that meet the Agriculture Department’s nutritional standards with “fortification of calcium, protein, vitamin A, and vitamin D to levels found in cow’s milk.” The Senate bill, unlike the House one, also would require training on food allergies for all local food service personnel.

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2025/12/15/house-clears-whole-milk-for-school-menus/