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Farm mom supports whole milk in schools

A dairy farmer and mother of three says federal nutrition guidelines need to allow whole milk in schools. 

Amy Penterman is a past Dairy Business Association president and farms with her husband Sander near Thorp, Wisconsin.  She tells Brownfield limiting schools to skim and 1% milk is not meeting the nutritional needs of children. “Our kiddos at school are very hungry. I have three young boys in school. My middle child is in middle school. I really think (we need to) get some whole milk back in school. Don’t limit what they’re getting at school. We need to make sure that our nutrition guidelines match with what their activity needs are.”

And, she says many kids rely heavily on the school meal programs. “We need to make sure that they’re getting all of the food that they can to keep them sustainable so they’re learning. We have behavioral issues at school because kids are hungry. We need to make sure that we’re taking care of that.”

Penterman is concerned that the people setting the nutrition guidelines don’t see the big picture. “If you don’t have it every day with your kids, and you don’t see it every day, how hungry they are when they come home from school, you don’t understand the depth of the problem.”

Federal nutrition guidelines set recommendations for food consumption and dictate what meal programs can serve, including school meals.