On Jan. 14, President Donald Trump signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 into law. This legislation reverses Obama-era restrictions from 2012 that limited school milk to fat-free and low-fat (1 percent) options.
Since the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued immediate guidance, the legislation allows schools to begin serving these options immediately.
“Whole milk is a wonderful beverage,” Dr. Ben Carson, USDA’s National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing, said. “Good protein. We talk about real food—it is real food. Healthy fats, important nutrients. You look at Vitamin D. You look at calcium, phosphorus, the things that are absolutely essential.”
President Trump said the legislation “will ensure that millions of school-aged children will have access to high-quality milk as we make America healthy again.”
The legislation allows children to have access to free whole milk, in addition to 2 percent and 1 percent options, which some dietitians are applauding because of its high nutritional value. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said that the legislation is also a win for American farmers “who have sought to reintroduce whole milk into schools for fifteen years,” according to a press release, when government health officials categorized sugary juice and chocolate milk as better than nutrient-dense whole milk.
“During the same period that whole milk was regulated out of the lunchroom, rates of childhood obesity and diabetes rose significantly,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., HHS Secretary, said. “[This legislation offers] a long overdue correction to the school nutrition policy that puts children’s health first.”
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