Bolstering The Dairy Industry and Graduation Requirements

Bolstering The Dairy Industry and Graduation Requirements plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

What can be done to bolster the nation's dairy producers without breaking the federal bank? Lawmakers held a hearing on that subject this week. Ag Department Economist Larry Salathe talks about what the Secretary has in mind.

SALATHE: The Secretary is very interested in having a dialog. He’s not interested in putting out a very specific proposal that then competes with some other proposal that then competes with some other proposal. He feels very strongly that the safety net need to be improved for dairy producers. On the other hand he recognizes that it’s very difficult to get consensus in the dairy industry and he also recognizes that we are in a very difficult budget situation.

High school graduation requirements are about to change in Idaho. The number of online classes students must take is the issue. Required online courses are part of the three education reform laws State Schools Superintendent Tom Luna pushed for and the state legislature approved this year. The plan before the board would require students take two credits online to graduate.  It would start with the class of 2016. If approved, it will be subject to a vote of the Idaho Legislature during the 2012 session.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

With school back in session the great chocolate milk debate is also back in the news. Of course the Fresno, California school board is the first to get things started this school year with some teachers and parents groups requesting to pull chocolate milk from the school menus charging that the added sugar in flavored milk is a major contributor to childhood obesity. Facts are that over the last five years the dairy industry has worked hard to develop low fat, fat free, and reduced sugar chocolate milks in response to the overall national concern for childhood obesity. With milk being the number one food source for the majority of children’s daily calcium, potassium, and vitamin D needs many nutritional experts including The American Academy of Pediatrics are concerned that if chocolate milk is removed from schools milk consumption will fall off dramatically. They insist that the nutritional value of milk far outweighs the additional sugar in flavored milks. They’ve also stated that “flavored milks account for only three percent of total added sugars in a child’s diet, with soft drinks being their primary source for added sugars”.

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.