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Dr. Neal Barnard,
Physicians Committee
March 2017
[NOTE: Dairy Lobby Group Dumps Support for Dairy PRIDE Act]
It’s too late. As more and more Americans ditch dairy products for healthy plant-based options, it’s unfair for the U.S. government to continue propping up the dairy industry by dumping disease-causing milk and cheese into nutrition assistance programs that should promote healthful foods instead.
Exploiting economically disadvantaged people as a way to prop up dairy
profits is wrong. But the dairy industry is at it again. The International
Dairy Foods Association just asked Congress to bail out the tanking industry
by coercing SNAP (formerly food stamps) participants to purchase more milk
and cheese. It’s a bad idea targeting a population particularly vulnerable
to heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions linked to dairy products.
On March 22, Michael D. Dykes, president and CEO of the International Dairy
Foods Association, told the House Agriculture Committee that the association
wants the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program—which is aimed
at increasing fruit and vegetable consumption—to be reauthorized and
expanded in the next Farm Bill to give SNAP participants incentives to
purchase milk and dairy products.
“We believe adding voluntary incentives to encourage SNAP participants to
increase their consumption of milk and dairy foods would be nutritionally
sound and a wise use of taxpayer dollars,” said Dykes.
It would not. More milk means greater mortality risk from conditions
including heart disease. Last month, the American Journal of
Epidemiology published a study of more than 140,000 men and women.
Those who consumed the most milk and the fewest servings of fruits or
vegetables had higher mortality rates. The increase in risk was almost
three-fold among the women participants.
But another study found that replacing dairy fats with plant-based foods
decreases heart disease risk. This makes sense for SNAP participants, who
are already at increased risk for death from heart disease.
A recent study in the American Journal of Public Health found that
SNAP participants increased their risk of death from heart disease and had
three times the diabetes mortality rate when compared to income-ineligible
nonparticipants. They also had an increased risk compared to income-eligible
nonparticipants.
Dairy products are also linked to cancer, hip fractures, and lactose
intolerance, which affects approximately 65 percent of the human population.
The Healthy Staples Program, which I recently proposed in the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine, is one possible remedy. It would
encourage SNAP participants to choose a “package” of disease-fighting
plant-based foods (with preparation tips and easy meal ideas) that
participating grocers would supply.
The “Healthy Staples Program” could also save SNAP $26 billion each year. It
would provide SNAP recipients abundant food and complete nutrition while
reducing the average monthly benefit used per person from $126.39 to $78.66
each month. These cost savings can be reinvested into SNAP to expand its
benefits.
The International Dairy Foods Association’s plan, on the other hand, would
actually cost taxpayers, who are already paying tens of millions of dollars
to bail out the dairy industry. Last August, the USDA announced that it
would buy 11 million pounds of unwanted cheese at a cost of $20 million. Two
months later, the USDA said it would buy an additional $20 million of
cheddar cheese.
Continuing to bail out the dairy industry is a losing proposition. A recent
report found that U.S. dairy sales will continue to decline until 2020 and
that “growth of non-dairy milk will continue as consumers perceive it a
better-for-you alternative to dairy milk.”
In response, Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont, Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, and
Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin recently introduced the Dairy Pride Act, to
“defend” the dairy industry from plant-based products.
It’s too late. As more and more Americans ditch dairy products for healthy
plant-based options, it’s unfair for the U.S. government to continue
propping up the dairy industry by dumping disease-causing milk and cheese
into nutrition assistance programs that should promote healthful foods
instead.
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