Commentary | Santa over students: Why Republicans’ rejection of plant-based milk in schools is racially biased – By Ashlie D. Stevens (Salon) / Dec 20, 2023
“We want only the most nutritional option for Santa,” Congresswoman Virginia Foxx said last week of whole milk
Last Wednesday, as Congress faced looming deadlines to pass several major legislative priorities, including a government funding bill, before breaking for the holidays, Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx of North Carolina decided to divert attention to the respective difficulty of Santa Claus’ upcoming annual trek. “Hoisting heavy sacks of gifts up and down the chimney is no easy task,” Foxx declared, before suggesting that Santa Claus needs whole milk, as opposed to soy or oat or skim, in order “to travel the whole globe in one night.”
She continued: “We want only the most nutritional option for Santa. Whole milk is the unsung hero of his Christmas journey.”
This dairy-centered diversion wasn’t just a holiday-themed filibuster. For several years now, House Republicans have, with increasing intensity, fought for the reintroduction of whole milk — as opposed to skim or low-fat — to the National School Lunch program as current laws dictate that schools must offer milk that is fat-free or low-fat, and may only offer flavored milk if it is fat-free. This has been the case since 2012 when then-First Lady Michelle Obama moved to only permit low-fat milk variations.
