A Meat and Dairy Article from All-Creatures.org
Fighting Dietary Racism in Schools
From Switch4Good.org
June 2022
We are an evidence-based nonprofit, advocating
passionately for a dairy-free world.
The USDA mandates cow’s milk in schools to the detriment of over 50
million children. However, not only is milk the most common and
severe food allergy in children under 16, but 70-95% of children of
color are lactose intolerant.
Yet federal law requires milk to be served with school meals in
order for state authorities to be reimbursed by USDA for the meals
provided. To make matters worse—even though we applied pressure and
got soy milk added to the 2020 US Dietary Guidelines as
“nutritionally equivalent” to cow’s milk—soy milk is not
reimbursable, therefore schools cannot provide it to children who
cannot digest cow’s milk.
This is dietary racism, plain and simple. That’s why we’re demanding
Equal Milk for All.
Actions:
- Pressured USDA to recognize soy milk as “nutritionally equivalent to
dairy milk” in the 2020 US Dietary Guidelines
- Sent letter to Secretary Vilsack requesting: (1) Full USDA
reimbursement for schools to purchase soy milk; (2) Immediate Civil
Rights Impact Analysis (CRIA) to identify systemic inequities in
National School Lunch Program (NSLP); (3) Exploration of ways to make
more plant-based milk alternatives available for schoolchildren
- Met with 10 Congress Members and their staffs in Washington DC
to educate them on prevalence of lactose intolerance among children of
color and press our case for soy milk reimbursement
- Joined by 20 additional racial and social justice
organizations, supporting our fight
Impact:
- Soy milk added to US Dietary Guidelines as nutritionally equivalent
to cow’s milk
- Garnered 5 Congressional co-leads and 30 Members of Congress
signed on to help us fight this battle
- Led by Rep. Troy Carter from Louisiana, ALL 50 MEMBERS of the
Congressional Black Caucus voted to support our measure!
Please watch:
Let's
STOP dietary racism! (Equal Milk For All with Vegan Doctors)
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