In the United States, the Special Milk Program, sometimes known as the School Milk Program, offers federal reimbursements for
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
served to children in an eligible participating outlet, which includes
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
s,
child care
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
institutions,
settlement houses
The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...
,
homeless shelters
Homeless shelters are a type of homeless service agency which provide temporary residence for homeless individuals and families. Shelters exist to provide residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather while simultaneously re ...
, or
summer camps
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, with ...
. This federal aid program is administered by the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...
under the
Food and Nutrition Service
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The FNS is the federal agency responsible for administering the nation’s domestic nutrition assistance programs. The service helps to add ...
(FNS).
Depending on income, a student may buy subsidized "paid milk", or receive free milk. The Milk Program was designed as a form of
agricultural subsidy
An agricultural subsidy (also called an agricultural incentive) is a government incentive paid to agribusinesses, agricultural organizations and farms to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural commodities, and influence t ...
to
dairy farmers
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...
, as well as a means of raising milk consumption among school children.
History
Originally, the program was variously referred to as either the School Milk Program, the Special Milk Program, or the Special School Milk Program. The "School Milk Program" name is still used by some sources.
With the United States having just entered
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Department of Agriculture released a pamphlet promoting the Milk Program in 1942. It referred to milk as a "
Victory Food", and stated that it hoped to reduce
malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...
and
hidden hunger
Micronutrient deficiency or dietary deficiency is not enough of one or more of the micronutrients required for optimal plant or animal health. In humans and other animals they include both vitamin deficiencies and mineral deficiencies, whereas in ...
among American school children through the program. It was also intended to provide farmers with a fair return on their product.
Previously, the program was authorized under the
Agricultural Act of 1954
The Agricultural Act of 1954 (P.L. 83-690) is a United States federal law that, among other provisions, authorized a Commodity Credit Corporation
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned United States government corporation th ...
. The Department of Agriculture intended to provide students with wider access to milk. It was designed to provide
price supports for
dairy products
Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are Food product, food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, dairy goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include commo ...
. The Milk Program has served nonprofit camps run by organizations such as the
Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts may refer to:
* Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement.
* Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement.
* An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...
.
The Special Milk Program is now permanently authorized under the
Child Nutrition Act of 1966
The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) is a United States federal law ( act) signed on October 11, 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act was created as a result of the "years of cumulative successful experience under the National School L ...
(P.L. 89-642, as amended; 42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.).
![Methodist Summer Camp at Winthrop, Maine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Methodist_Summer_Camp_at_Winthrop%2C_Maine.jpg)
The program is federally administered by the Food and Nutrition Service, and funded by annual agricultural appropriations. At a state-level the program is usually administered by
state education agencies. Schools are reimbursed for each half
pint
The pint (, ; symbol pt, sometimes abbreviated as ''p'') is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is tradition ...
served to eligible students.
The reimbursement rate is determined every July 1 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The annual rate adjustment reflects changes in the
Producer Price Index
A producer price index (PPI) is a price index that measures the average changes in prices received by domestic producers for their output.
Its importance is being undermined by the steady decline in manufactured goods as a share of spending.
...
for Fluid Milk Products.
Eligibility
Participating institutions must operate their milk programs on a non-profit basis.
To be eligible for the Special Milk Program, an institution must not participate in other federally subsidized meal programs like the
National School Lunch Program
The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (79 P.L. 396, 60 Stat. 230) is a 1946 United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through ...
.
There is an exception from the eligibility limitation for kindergarten and
pre-kindergarten
Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...
children in split session programs, meaning "an education program operating for approximately one-half of the regular school day."
Schools may offer free milk to children meeting free lunch income requirements, if they choose, and this milk is reimbursed at full cost. Otherwise, children buy so-called paid milk, which is subsidized at a legislatively set rate for each half-pint served. A child's family must re-apply annually for free milk eligibility.
Only
pasteurized
Pasteurization American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mi ...
fluid type fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk may be offered. Flavored milk is allowed for children six and over. With a
doctor's note, a student may receive a substitute if they have a disability which prevents them from consuming cow's milk, granted certain nutrition standards are met for the substitute.
Budget and impact
A 1957 report found an increase in average daily milk consumption among school children in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, at 68% in
elementary schools
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
, 250% in
junior high schools
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
, and 200% in
senior high schools. A 1960 study found that children attending participating schools drank an average of 1.7 more ounces per capita per day of milk. A 1978 national survey by the Food and Nutrition Service found similar: the program raised student milk consumption by 42% in participating schools.
In 2008, 4,676 schools and residential child care institutions participated in the Special Milk Program, along with 743 summer camps and 522 non-residential child care institutions. Over 85 million half pints of milk were served that year through the program, down from 3 billion half pints served through it in 1969, 1.8 billion in 1980, and 181 million in 1990. The Special Milk Program's reach and budget has been reduced due to the expansion of the National School Lunch Program and
School Breakfast Programs, which include milk.
Federal spending on the program was at 11.9 million by
FY 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
.
This was down from 101.2 million in FY 1970.
See also
*
Butter mountain
The butter mountain is a supply surplus of butter produced in the European Union because of government interventionism that began in the 1970s. The size of the surplus changed significantly over time and mostly disappeared by 2017, which has le ...
*
Child and Adult Care Food Program
The 'Child and Adult Care Food Program'' (CACFP) is a type of United States federal assistance provided by the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to states in order to provide a daily subsidized f ...
*
Got Milk?
Got Milk? (stylized as got milk?) is an American advertising campaign encouraging the consumption of milk and dairy products. Created by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993, it w ...
*
Government cheese
Government cheese is processed cheese provided to welfare beneficiaries, Food Stamp recipients, and the elderly receiving Social Security in the United States, as well as to food banks and churches. This processed cheese was used in military k ...
*
National School Lunch Act
The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (79 P.L. 396, 60 Stat. 230) is a 1946 United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through ...
*
School Breakfast Program
The School Breakfast Program is a federally funded meal program that provides free and reduced cost breakfasts to children at public and private schools, and child care facilities in the United States. All children in participating schools and ...
References
*
Milk
United States Department of Agriculture programs
School meal programs in the United States
External links
United States Department of Agriculture page
Benefits.gov page
{{Contemporary social welfare programs in the United States