Got Soy? Not in School Lunch
Federal Rules Keep Milk Alternatives off the Menu
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 14, 2002; Page A01
When 8-year-old Peirce Marston told his mother that he didn't want to drink his milk at Highland View Elementary School in Silver Spring because it gave him stomachaches, she started researching how a growing number of children in the United States have trouble digesting cow's milk.
The solution seemed obvious to her: offer the students soy milk.
"Even Starbucks has soy now," Julia Marston said. "I thought the schools would certainly be getting it soon."
But they won't. While many school systems would like to offer soy milk as a choice, the U.S. Department of Agriculture won't reimburse them for it except in cases of medical need. Cow's milk is required by law as part of the federally assisted meal plan, which some school systems depend on for more than half of their cafeteria funds.
This is part of America's multibillion-dollar "milk war," a fierce debate between the dairy industry and its growing list of critics, which includes mainstream researchers, low-fat-diet advocates and vegetarian groups. They say soy milk is lower in fat and cholesterol, does not have the hormones found in cow's milk and is easier for many people, especially minority children, to digest. Medical studies have shown that African Americans, Latinos and Asians all have a higher incidence than the general population of lactose intolerance, which means they cannot easily digest cow's milk.
"I think a lot of what we think about milk is caught up in these romantic American notions of milking cows on the farm," said Julia McMillian, a professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University. "Meanwhile, it's ironic that there is promotion of milk to students of all colors at a time when these students have to sit in school with bloated stomachs and gas."
The dairy industry and others who promote milk say that it is nutritionally unmatched by most soy milks, provides calcium and Vitamin D and is cheaper, and that lactose intolerance isn't as big a problem as some people think.
"Soy is no substitute for milk for school kids," said Greg Miller, senior vice president of nutrition and scientific affairs for the National Dairy Council. "Soy does not give you the nutritional package that you get from milk."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which subsidizes the dairy industry, has been steadfast in its requirements.
"Milk must be served with school lunch, according to USDA regulations," said Jean Daniel, the USDA's public affairs director for food and nutrition. "If not, it's not considered a reimbursable meal."
The USDA plans "listening sessions" across the country this year in preparation for the reauthorization of its National School Lunch Program. Any revisions to the school lunch guidelines will go before Congress for approval next year. Officials will discuss soy milk if it comes up at these sessions, Daniel said.
School lunches do evolve. Not so long ago, they resembled "Leave It to Beaver"-style meals: two pieces of meat, mashed potatoes with gravy, a baked dessert.
"There were no salad bars and no yogurts or mixed legumes or pastas with vegetables, and only whole milk," said Karen Kettlewell, director of nutrition and education for the American School Food Services Association. "Will there ever be soy milk? There are now veggie burgers in school lunches, so there's no predicting it."
In the meantime, schools are left to wrestle with the issue.
Fairfax County, for instance, had so many students who could not digest milk or had religious objections to drinking cow's milk that the schools started fortifying all the juices with calcium.
"We don't want a bunch of people with osteoporosis," said Penny McConnell, the director of food and nutrition services for Fairfax schools. "We have a very multicultural community, and we try to be sensitive to that."
Universities serve soy milk, but they don't have to worry about federal reimbursements, said Lisa McGary, a registered nutritionist at George Mason University.
"The students love it," McGary said as she watched students in her cafeteria pour themselves glasses of vanilla-flavored soy milk. "I think it would be really important for Asian American and African American kids in public schools to be able to be served this, especially those who may be getting their only meal a day at school. But without the reimbursements, the public schools can't do it."
The Prince George's County school system, for example, spent $1.5 million on milk last year, and 57 percent of its cafeteria budget was funded with federal subsidies. The Fairfax County system spent $2.6 million on milk, and 27 percent of its food budget was in federal money.
The District's schools would like to serve soy milk, but with 90 percent of the lunch budget coming from federal funds, they need a softening of the rules, said Barbara Adams, a dietitian for the D.C. system.
"I think we're at the mercy of the policies that come from USDA," Adams said. "If we are not going to be reimbursed, we are not going to have much of a choice."
There are only a few instances in which school systems are reimbursed for soy milk.
Children whose doctors write notes saying they are lactose intolerant can be offered lactose-free cow's milk, soy milk or rice milk, and the school will be reimbursed, Daniel said.
But school officials cite confusion over even that part of the law, which states only that schools must offer a "variety of milks." When asked about it by The Washington Post, even USDA officials were unclear on the issue. In early interviews, officials said soy was not allowed. In a later interview, after reviewing the law, they said soy was indeed reimbursable with a doctor's note.
"I guess we will be looking more into soy now," said Kim Tarhan, a registered dietitian for the Anne Arundel County school system. "Right now, we serve four kinds of cow milk, and if a student brings a doctor's note, they get calcium-fortified orange juice."
The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, which is based in Bethesda and is part of the National Institutes of Health, estimates that 30 million to 50 million Americans are unable to digest lactose. School officials worry that for many students, getting a doctor's note is time-consuming, too expensive or, sometimes, embarrassing. And they want every child on the lunch line to be able to choose the right milk.
Miller, of the National Dairy Council, called lactose intolerance "an issue that animal rights groups blow out of proportion." Most people can digest milk in smaller doses and with food, he said.
Studies have shown that soy may have a positive effect on everything from menopausal symptoms to cancer, osteoporosis and heart disease.
In 1999, the federal government began permitting the labels of soy-based foods containing at least 6.25 grams of soy protein per serving to state that the product may reduce the risk of heart disease.
The dairy industry, however, points out that not all soy milks have as much calcium as milk does, and it says that if people want lower fat content, they can drink skim milk. The industry says milk is more affordable than soy and is packed with Vitamin D, Vitamin A, potassium and several B vitamins.
With partisan research on both sides, educators say it's hard to wade through all the data.
"We also get hit with a lot of parents who get very confused," McConnell said. "One minute something is good, the next it's bad. It's always changing."
Nationwide sales of soy milk totaled $201 million in 1998, up 160 percent over two years, according to the Soyfoods Association of North America. In 2001, sales grew to $550 million.
The dairy industry is taking note and has reacted. In February 2000, the National Milk Producers Federation filed a complaint with the Food and Drug Administration seeking to bar the soy industry from using the term "milk," saying it is part of the distinct identity of cow's milk. The complaint is pending.
And there are constant accusations that the dairy industry and the USDA have too cozy a relationship. The USDA selects which foods Americans should eat -- not only in school lunches but also in the food pyramid -- and then promotes those foods.
A federal district court judge ruled in October 2000 that the USDA violated federal conflict-of-interest laws in considering and appointing people with meat- and dairy-industry ties to its dietary guidelines committee. The lawsuit had been filed by the Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit vegetarian group that has ties to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Even the National Dairy Council's "Got Milk?" campaign and nutrition education program is being debated.
Last year, $180 million was spent on promoting milk in the media and in schools with a variety of methods, from nutrition brochures to posters of celebrities like Britney Spears with the milk mustache.
Opponents say the ads give milk an unfair advantage -- no other product gets to market itself directly to students in the same way. Dairy groups involved in the campaign defend it, saying milk is far better for students than soda.
D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) was planning to be part of the "Got Milk?" campaign last year, wearing a chocolate milk mustache. He changed his mind after learning how many African Americans were lactose intolerant.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company |
