School children must be provided nutritious and healthy meals, and they should include meat. Coincidentally, the Clinton administration attempted this year to prop up cattle prices by stepping up purchases of beef for schools. USDA provided schools with 146 million pounds of beef during this past school year. School lunch programs, which feed 25 million children nationwide, are a huge market for the food industry. The federal government subsidizes the cost of the meals and sets requirements for their nutrition and content.
Agriculture already allows some meat substitutes, including cheese and peanut butter.
Proponents say yogurt will add variety to lunches, is easy for children to digest and requires no preparation. Department officials do worry that children may drink less milk if they eat yogurt. When children in a Michigan study were offered both yogurt and milk, just 2 percent wanted both. On the other hand, for reasons only a dietician could appreciate, children like cheese and milk together. The Agriculture Department is taking comment on its yogurt proposal until Aug. 19.