Trump signs bill reversing Obama-era school lunch policy, allowing whole and 2% milk again

President Donald Trump has signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, waving goodbye to an Obama-era policy that restricted schools participating in the National School Lunch Program from offering whole and 2% milk to students.

 On Wednesday, President Trump amended former President Barack Obama’s 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which had required public schools in the National School Lunch Program to provide students with reduced-fat milk. Under the change, schools will offer a wider range of milk choices for students, including whole and 2% milk.

The National School Lunch Program, signed into law by late President Harry S. Truman in 1946, aims to “safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children” while also supporting the agricultural economy by encouraging the domestic consumption of American farm products. The program offers low-cost or free meals to students.

 

The executive order allows schools to serve both flavored and unflavored milk, as well as organic and non-organic options, in student lunches.

Additionally, parents are now able to sign off on their children receiving a substitute for milk due to dietary restrictions resulting from a disability. The old law required a doctor to provide a written statement to do so.

“President Trump will sign into law a fix to the failed Obama policy that foolishly banned whole milk from public schools and barred children from the essential nutrients needed to grow, learn, and stay healthy,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. “This is common sense and great news for America’s children, dairy farmers, and parents who deserve choice, not big government mandates.”

Trump, who was surrounded by members of Congress and Health and Human Services officials during the mostly informal bill signing, revealed that a large jug of milk sitting next to him on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office had been sitting there “for five or six days.”

The new law comes days after Kennedy Jr. announced new dietary guidelines that prioritize healthy fats and full-fat dairy.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture shared an image of Trump with a milk mustache in homage to the 1990s and 2000s “Got Milk?” campaign, whose goal was to reverse a decades-long decline in fluid milk consumption, during which sodas and juices were consumed much more than milk.

Whole dairy contains more nutrients (including calcium, protein, phosphorus, and vitamins A, B, and D), more essential omega-3 fatty acids, and makes you less hungry over time.

The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025 received broad bipartisan support, passing unanimously in the Senate in November 2025 and by a wide margin in the House in December. Dairy organizations, such as the International Dairy Foods Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, hailed the signing as a victory for children’s health and American farmers.

Additionally, the law expands access to nondairy alternatives like fortified soy milk that align with federal nutrition standards, providing more inclusive choices for students with dietary needs.