How Congress Can Help Get Rbgh-free Milk Into Our Schools

Fact Sheet

How Congress Can Help Get rBGH-Free Milk into Our Schools

F

ood & Water Watch’s School Milk Campaign wants Congress to make the smart choice for school lunches: milk free of artificial growth hormones.

Why do we need rBGH-free milk for our schools? The federal nutrition programs are a major provider of milk to our nation’s school-age children. According to the National Milk Producers Federation, nearly 430 million gallons of milk were distributed through the National School Breakfast, Lunch and Special Milk programs during the 2005-2006 school year. Scientific evidence shows that the vitamins and minerals in milk (or fortified soy milk) are critical to the health of growing children. But evidence also suggests that some milk — that produced by cows injected with artificial growth hormones — may be harmful for children and other consumers. Roughly 15 percent of all dairies in the United States (mostly large dairies) inject their cows with a synthetic growth hormone called recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) — also referred to as recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) — that increases milk production. This synthetic hormone increases cows’ production of another growth hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Studies by the European Commission and others indicate that IGF-1 survives cow digestion and pasteurization, which is troubling because excessive IGF-1 consumption in humans is linked to increased rates of colon, breast and prostate cancer. It is possible that at least 84 million gallons of milk from rBGH-treated cows were distributed through the school nutrition programs in fiscal year 2005-2006 — or about one out of five pints of milk offered in school cafeterias nationwide. Cows injected with rBGH also have higher rates of mastitis, an udder infection that must be treated with antibiotics. The use of antibiotics in industrial dairies contributes to the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, putting humans at risk.

Because of concerns about the health risks to both treated cows and the people who drink their milk, the governments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the European Union have never approved this artificial growth hormone for use in cows. Growing consumer concern about the use of the hormone in milk production has led to dramatic changes in the dairy industry, with major dairies and retailers going rBGH-free. In the last few years, Tillamook Cheese, Garelick Farms, Darigold, Hood, Berkeley Farms and many other dairy brands have eliminated artificial hormones from their milk supply. Large retailers, including Kroger, Publix and WalMart, have switched their house brand of milk to rBGH-free. Dean Foods, the largest milk producer in the nation, is adopting rBGH-free policies at many of its bottling plants. A growing number of hospitals and colleges are switching as well. It is time for school cafeterias to have the same option.

Why the Child Nutrition Act? The Child Nutrition Act (CNA) is renewed every five years — the next renewal will happen in 2009 — and authorizes the National School Lunch Program as well as other federal food programs like the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. The school food programs provide funding and guidance to school districts looking to provide healthy, low-cost meals to their students. The sheer volume of milk that is served through CNA-funded programs makes this piece of legislation the most effective tool to impact the quality of milk served at schools. Schools work hard to serve the healthiest options to their kids, but it is immensely challenging. Public schools receive only $1.13 per child per lunch in federal funding. Some states contribute additional funds, but many do not, leaving school foodservice directors to squeeze water from a stone. The federal government also supplies schools with surplus commodities from U.S. producers — including cheese, meat, vegetable oil, peanut products, flour and rice — but they are not always the most nutritious or high-quality foods. Then there’s the complicated nature of federal regulations governing what schools can and cannot purchase and serve their kids. One area of confusion is whether schools have the option to specify the type of milk they want to buy. Schools put out a request for bids on the contract for the milk for their school; technically, they are required to contract with the company that offers the lowest bid that meets the school’s specifications. Many school districts have successfully procured rBGH-free milk by specifying it in the bid request, but other districts don’t know that they have this option.

Tell Congress to give schools a choice! More funding for school food programs is greatly needed. But in addition, Congress should clarify that schools do have the option to request milk from cows that are not treated with artificial growth hormones as long as standard competitiveness procedures are followed. This is a no-cost administrative change that would help schools make choices that respond to the needs of their students, parents and communities. School districts around the country, including in the dairy states of California and Wisconsin, have successfully built artificial hormone-free milk into their nutrition programs. Congress should use the CNA renewal process to clarify that districts everywhere have the option to make the smart choice.

How to Get Involved: ‡6LJQRXU6FKRRO0LON&DPSDLJQSHWLWLRQDWZZZ foodandwaterwatch.org ‡$VN\RXUPHPEHUVRI&RQJUHVVWRLQFOXGHODQJXDJH in the Child Nutrition Act clarifying that schools can purchase milk free of artificial growth hormones. ‡-RLQRXU6FKRRO0LON&DPSDLJQWHDPWRKHOSJHW rBGH-free milk into your community’s schools — Contact us to find out how. ‡)RUPRUHLQIRUPDWLRQFRQWDFWWKHIRRGWHDPDW Food & Water Watch: [email protected]

For more information: web: www.foodandwaterwatch.org email: [email protected] SKRQH '& ‡ &$ Copyright © January 2009 Food & Water Watch