Just last month, New York City’s mayor Eric Adams was attempting to ban chocolate milk from being served in New York City’s public schools. Now he is backing off this proposition and turning his attention, urging Congress to pass a law allowing vegetarian alternatives in select New York City schools.
Known to follow a mostly vegan diet, Adams states he won’t push for a ban on chocolate milk. Instead, he intends to push a pilot program that requires plant-based meals as an option.
“My administration is committed to empowering our students and their parents with the information and resources needed to make healthy choices for themselves and for our city,” the mayor shared in a letter.
While New York dairy farmer Nate Chittenden is happy the attention to ban chocolate milk is off the agenda, for now at least, he is also bothered by the mayor’s new agenda.
“What bothers me the most is that we are trying to set up our children to be making healthy food decisions for their entire lives. You know, I don’t want somebody that’s living a vegetarian lifestyle or a vegan lifestyle to feel like they’re being forced to drink milk if they don’t want to. Ultimately, it’s about having choices,” Chittenden says. “It’s a good thing.”
Chittenden, who is a father of three children, says he is a firm believer that milk has more nutritional value than anything else being served on a school lunch tray.
“Penny for penny, milk packs more nutritional value than just about any other beverage,” he says.
The mayor’s letter has received pushback from upstate Republican Representative, Elise Stefanik, who blasted Adams’ letter as nothing more than a distraction from his true aim to replace dairy with “vegan juice.”
Although she stated that this temporary hold on the decision to ban chocolate milk in schools is a win for Upstate New York farmers.
Chittenden and his family sell to Agri-Mark Cooperative and are also part of a small dairy farm cooperative, called Hudson Valley Fresh, that helps supply milk to New York City schools.
“I think it’s easy to assume that upstate farmers or any New York farmers are going to be financially impacted by any reduction in milk consumption in New York state,” he states.
The Chittenden family owns and operates Dutch Hollow Farm in Schodack Landing, N.Y., where they milk 800 registered Jersey cows and farm 2,000 acres.
Stefanik has introduced federal legislation requiring all schools to offer chocolate milk in a response to Adam’s intended ban and she states that she will support New York dairy farmers.
“I will continue to lead the effort to protect real dairy products in schools for the sake of our kids,” she states.
The mayor’s decision comes after weeks of advocacy by International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and other dairy organizations, as well as bipartisan outreach and proposed legislation by members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I am pleased to see Mayor Adams following the lead of parents, physicians, and dietitians, all of whom widely support offering low-fat flavored milk to students in our public schools,” Michael Dykes, president and CEO of IDFA says. “Studies have shown school meals are the healthiest meals of the day for children thanks, in part, to nutritious milk and dairy options. Offering low-fat flavored milk increases school meal participation, leads to children consuming more nutrients of public health concern, and reduces food waste. Maintaining low-fat flavored milk options in school plays an important role in the diet and nutrition of children because milk contains 13 essential nutrients that children need for growth, development, healthy immune function, and overall wellness. IDFA is grateful to our association members, parents of school-aged children, physicians and dietitians, and members of Congress who spoke up on behalf of what’s best for child nutrition and preserved low-fat flavored milk in New York City public schools.”
The most recent data released by MilkPEP illustrates that chocolate milk is a fan favorite in schools. At 67%, most milk that is moved through schools is flavored. The dominant flavor by far is chocolate, as it made up 59% of the milk volume, with strawberry at 7% and the remainder of 1% was other.
