Whole, 2%, and Flavored Milk on the Way Back to Schools

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 17, 2025 – The changes the dairy industry has been lobbying for since 2012 has come to fruition in the form of those little cartons of milk on school lunch trays. With the Dec. 16 unanimous Senate passage of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, whole milk can return and schools can also offer reduced fat, low fat, and fat free choices in flavored and unflavored. The milk offered may be organic or non-organic.

Federal nutrition rules took whole and 2% milk off the school lunch trays of kids, a decision Gregg Doud, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation said isn’t aligned with consumer choice and was a flawed decision.

According to the International Dairy Foods Association, school milk consumption declined sharply after whole, 2%, and flavored options were taken off the table, leaving between 68 and 94% of school age kids not meeting recommended levels of dairy intake. Though fluid milk consumption declined in that time, demand for dairy in other forms, particularly cheese topped pizza, has increased.

According to one of the bill’s sponsors, Pennsylvania Congressman G.T. Thompson, the commonsense, bipartisan bill ushers nutrition and milk’s 13 essential nutrients back into schools. Thompson said milk has long been unfairly vilified and that deprived an entire generation of students of the nutrition necessary for healthy development and academic success.

The change to the National School Lunch Program requirements for milk is on President Trump’s desk awaiting his signature. No word on whether he prefers white, chocolate, or strawberry milk, though.

Source: Western Ag Network

Photo- Congressman GT Thompson speaks to dairy farmers at Schrack Farms in Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of Congressman Thompson.