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Lessons to Be Learned
James Dudlicek
(847) 205-5660 ext. 4009
When the government backs
off, or at least gets around to changing antiquated policies, good things
happen. And that’s what’s happening in Palm Beach County, Fla.,
where whole milk will disappear from school menus this fall, according to
the Palm Beach Post.
“But that’s no good,” you’re
thinking right now. “We need more milk ON the menu. See, Palm Beach
County causes nothing but trouble!” Well, yes, but ...
For years, federal law required schools to sell whole
milk, the ultimate creamy statement of fluid dairy for many but something
the American Academy of Pediatrics has been saying no one over age 2 should
consume because we don’t need the extra fat. Now the feds only
require schools to offer at least two choices of any type of milk, allowing
school nutritionists to both please the dairy industry and take steps to
fight obesity.
Palm Beach school officials don’t expect milk
consumption to take a hit because of this; the top choice among kids there
is half-percent chocolate, with skim and lowfat white and lowfat strawberry
also offered. Dropping whole milk is the latest step in efforts to improve
school meals in a district where 22 percent of students reportedly are
overweight.
Meanwhile, in neighboring St. Lucie County, schools
will continue to offer whole milk. The foodservice director there is
worried that its removal would stifle milk consumption. “It’s
hard to get a good calcium source that’s not dairy-based,” she
told the Post. “My goal is, hopefully we will be able to eliminate whole
milk, but I don’t want kids to be in a cold-turkey
situation.”
The way I see it, the government is finally allowing
the market to work. Offer whole milk or don’t — the important
thing is to offer milk, and offer the kinds kids like best and that are
best for them. It’s an opportunity for processors to work more
closely with school systems in their marketing area to create milk programs
that best serve their students while getting them excited about being
life-long milk drinkers. Giving the food police less to complain about will
be an added bonus.
As Blue Ridge Paper’s John Latham says in our
annual packaging report this month, if the fluid segment is going to grow,
more dairy processors need to look at school milk as a business, not merely
a bid.
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