‘A Lifeline For So Many Kids’: Schiff Slams Efforts To Cut Federally-Funded Student Meal Programs

Forbes Breaking News

During a Senate Agriculture, Forestry, and Nutrition Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) spoke about a bill being drafted that would eliminate federally-funded meal programs for students.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Chairman and Ranking Member. Thanks for holding this hearing today, and Dr. Studi,

00:09thank you for being here. It's nice as an Adam to be in the presence of another Eve. My wife

00:14is Eve also, by the way. Before we get to the questions about the bill, as we speak,

00:23my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are drafting a bill that would eliminate school meal

00:27programs for millions of kids. That bill may come to the Senate as soon as this week. That bill is

00:34the prime, the bill that is the prime focus of this hearing deserves attention, but I don't see

00:39how we can discuss children's health and nutrition without acknowledging the important role of

00:43federally funded school meal programs that are literally a lifeline for so many kids. And I asked

00:50some of the school districts in California to send me their experiences, and let me just read one

00:55one that highlights the importance of our support for school meal programs. I was in the cafeteria,

01:04and a second grade class was boarding the bus for a field trip. The teacher had told all the students

01:09to bring your lunch because we won't be able to go to the cafeteria today, figuring everyone had food

01:15at home at this school on the right side of town. Lucy came to the cafeteria at 9 30 as they were boarding

01:23the bus to ask for something to drink because daddy didn't have anything to drink at home. When we

01:29checked what Lucy did have, she had a small bag of Fritos and two pieces of leftover Halloween candy.

01:34I asked Lucy where her lunch was, and she looked at the ground and said, the teacher said,

01:39we won't be back in time for lunch, and this is all we have at home. Lucy relies on school lunch,

01:44even on the good side of town, even when no one realizes she does. Children suffer in silence,

01:50even on the good side of town, in the middle of affluence. I seriously cry every time I tell

01:56this story and think of her face. That's a good illustration of what will be at stake on the

02:02floor this week with proposals to make massive cuts to the school meal programs. Let me turn to

02:09the question I have about this bill. My question revolves the absence of any alternative that

02:20involves non-dairy alternatives in the bill. In California and many states represented by members

02:25of the committee, there are millions of students who are lactose intolerant or have adverse reactions

02:30to dairy. Lactose-free milk is not always a good option because of their cost to schools and because

02:36some kids can't drink milk due to sensitivity to milk proteins, and some kids simply want

02:41a non-dairy option. At the same time, requiring a formal written note for an alternative due to

02:46inability to drink milk is an unnecessary bit of red tape for students and parents. If this bill

02:56is about giving children access to nutritious options, would it improve health outcomes as well

03:02as a parent and student sense of choice to have easy access to non-dairy alternatives for kids?

03:10Thank you for that question. I can speak first to the dietary guidelines and what it recommends

03:18related to what's included within the dairy food group. So the dairy food group within the dietary

03:26guidelines does include a variety of different cow milk options. It also includes soy milk and so

03:32soy yogurt as alternatives. And I say alternatives, but they are literally within the food group.

03:38So I think that your question about their uses within school meals might be a great question for

03:46the next panel. I know we also have data on that within FNS, but I can say within the dietary guidelines

03:51themselves, soy milk is provided as within the dairy group and it can certainly be a healthy way to

03:59meet dairy recommendations. Well along those lines, do you see any reason for authorizing schools to

04:07offer whole milk on the lunch line, but not fortified soy milk from a nutritional point of view?

04:14From a nutritional point of view, cow's milk and soy milk are included in the same group and provide very similar

04:23nutrient compositions. I thank you and this is not a denigration of the bill which I support in the

04:30House, but it is a call to include non-dairy alternatives as well. And with that, I yield back.

04:41Thank you very much.

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