Bring whole milk back to Pennsylvania schools

Editor's note: U.S. Rep. Tom Marino sent the following letter, dated April 26, to Sonny Purdue, Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, in Washington, D.C.
Dear Secretary Purdue:
Thank you for the hard work you have put in over the past year as Secretary of Agriculture helping America's farmers and boosting the agriculture industry. With your experience as a farmer, businessman, veterinarian, state legislator, and as the 81st Governor of Georgia, the agricultural and farming communities know they have a friend and ally to rely on.
One area of concern that I consistently hear about from my constituents is the restriction on the sale of whole milk at schools. I would like to respectfully ask the United States Department of Agriculture to update guidelines to the National School Lunch program (NSLP) to allow schools to sell unflavored whole milk during lunch.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 required USDA to update federal nutrition standards for school meals. This update included schools only being able to offer one cup of fat-free or 1 percent milk. These changes have led to a decrease in milk consumption and a significant increase in food waste in schools.
Additionally, these guidelines have negatively impacted America's dairy farmers, who have been suffering from low milk prices and a significant decrease in the purchase of fluid milk.
Milk is the number one source of nine essential nutrients in many young Americans' diets, and it provides significant health benefits. For instance, Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), a fatty acid found in milk, has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer and is a great source of protein. Furthermore, if children do not drink milk, it is very difficult for them to get sufficient amounts of three of the four major nutrients lacking in most children's diets: calcium, potassium, and Vitamin D. The increase in milk sales would help America's dairy farmers who have been impacted by stagnant milk prices.
I strongly encourage you to update the guidelines to the Nationals School Lunch Program (NSLP) to include the sale of unflavored whole milk. Thank you for your timely attention to this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact my office at 202-225-3731 with any questions or concerns.
Tom Marino
Member of Congress
10th District, Pennsylvania