The US Senate has unanimously passed the amended Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025, ensuring children in schools have access to plant-based milk options. This bipartisan effort, influenced by advocacy groups such as Switch4Good and Animal Wellness Action, aims to enhance the National School Lunch Program and provide healthier beverage choices for students.
Currently, the National School Lunch Program serves approximately 30 million students annually, but only guarantees dairy substitutes if a doctor’s note is provided. The updated legislation allows schools to offer nutritionally equivalent plant-based options as standard, eliminating the need for parents to obtain medical documentation for their children’s dietary preferences.
Advocacy and Impact
Marjorie Mulhall, senior director of policy at the Plant-Based Foods Association (PBFA), expressed gratitude for Congress’s decision, stating, “We applaud Congress for advancing improvements to the National School Lunch Program that will expand students’ access to plant-based milks while also cutting down on taxpayer waste.”
The amendments result from a lengthy campaign led by Switch4Good, with its founder Dotsie Bausch acknowledging the efforts over “three-and-a-half years of fighting tooth and nail to overturn the 80-year-old cow’s milk mandate in our nation’s public schools.”
About 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant, including many children, and data from the USDA indicates that nearly 30 percent of school milk cartons are discarded uneaten. This new legislation aims to address these issues by providing choices that reflect modern dietary preferences.
Empowering Parents and Students
Sanah Baig, executive director of the Plant Based Foods Institute, emphasized the importance of offering students choices that align with their families’ eating habits. “Students deserve choices at school that reflect the way families eat today,” Baig stated. “This legislation respects parents’ choices, provides kids with more options, and strengthens American agriculture.”
As the bill advances, it will soon be presented to President Donald Trump for approval. If enacted, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act will officially become law, allowing schools to offer plant-based milks alongside traditional dairy options. This initiative is projected to create new markets for American farmers cultivating soy, nuts, peas, oats, and other crops essential for plant-based products.
The unanimous approval of this legislation marks a significant step toward modernizing school nutrition programs and accommodating diverse dietary needs in US public schools. As the bill progresses, it holds the potential to reshape the nutritional landscape for millions of students across the country.
