NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern recaps progress made at NMPF’s annual meeting in Denver last week, including unanimous support for a Federal Milk Modernization Order modernization framework. Mulhern also talks about next steps on FMMO modernization and highlights the current popularity of dairy products and their nutritional benefits, noting the highest U.S. per capita consumption since 1959. Mulhern speaks on the “Agriculture of America” podcast.
The U.S. dairy industry has a long-standing commitment to the nutrition and health of the nation. Ensuring that people have consistent and equitable access to the nutrition they need is a key priority for the National Milk Producers Federation, just like the recent White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.
Claudia Larson, NMPF senior director of government relations, tells the National Association of Farm Broadcasters that most people know that dairy is nutritious, but not everybody knows the details of dairy’s potential in fighting nutrition insecurity.
In a two-part interview with Ag Information of the West, NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga takes on the myths perpetuated by plant-based beverage marketers in the context of such beverages’ declining sales. “If you read some of this media coverage in the last few years, you would have thought that cows were on their way to going extinct,” Bjerga said. “I think the cows are alive and well.” Part 1 is here, part 2 is here.
NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses the importance of milk to school nutrition programs in an interview with RFD- TV. According to consumer data, about 80 percent of the milk consumed by school-age children at home is whole or 2 percent milkfat varieties, neither of which are part of federal school nutrition programs.
Much like plant-based imitators, precision fermentation technology is a sector working to create so-called animal-free dairy products. However, Clay Detlefsen, National Milk Producers Federation Senior Vice President and Staff Counsel, says a real dairy product cannot be made with precision fermentation technology. “We’re seeing a lot of folks right now really misleading the public as to what they’re doing. You cannot make a real dairy product with fermentation technology,” he said in an interview with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters.
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) led eleven national agricultural, anti-hunger, nutrition and medical groups today in a virtual listening session urging the White House to place a high priority on access to affordable, diverse and nutritious foods when it holds its Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health this September.
The NMPF-organized session offered the White House both expertise and lived experience from a wide range of organizations on how important increased access to food and a diverse range of food choices are to fight nutrition insecurity and improve nutrition-related health.
“When the White House announced its Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, we at NMPF were excited by the potential for this conference to help propel meaningful advancement toward achieving the conference’s stated goals of ending hunger, increasing healthy eating and physical activity, and decreasing the prevalence of diet-related diseases in America,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern in remarks at the session. “We, and our collaborators on this listening session, share these goals and know from personal experience and decades of working on this issue that increasing access to food is critical to attaining them.”
The participating organizations said of the session and the White House conference:
“Eggs are one of the most affordable sources of high-quality protein available and can play an important role in fighting food insecurity and malnutrition in America and the world,” said Dr. Mickey Rubin of American Egg Board’s Egg Nutrition Center. “America’s egg farmers are committed to ensuring that nutritious, affordable eggs remain accessible to all Americans.”
“IDFA members are deeply committed to ending hunger by making it easier for everyone — urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities — to access and afford healthy, nutritious milk and dairy foods,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association. “SNAP and WIC are central to this conversation. We know from USDA’s Foods Typically Purchased Report that dairy products make up at least 20 percent of the grocery bill for SNAP participants. With creation of the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentive Projects (HFMIP) passed in the 2018 Farm Bill, policymakers took SNAP incentives a step further and sought to address the dairy consumption gap highlighted in the 2020-2025 DGAs. Yet, HFMIP is not working at the scale necessary to address malnutrition and chronic health diseases. Therefore, we encourage leaders gathering at the White House conference to focus on building a healthy dairy foods incentive program at national scale in partnership with food retailers, local nutrition and health organizations, state SNAP agencies, and dairy foods makers.”
“All Americans deserve the opportunity to live the healthiest life possible, and foundational to that is having access to affordable, culturally diverse nutrient-rich foods” said Katie Brown, EdD, RDN, senior vice president of scientific and nutrition affairs at National Dairy Council. “Dairy foods like milk, cheese and yogurt can be part of the solution to ensuring nutrition security and improving public health.”
“School meal programs are America’s most effective tool to expand children’s access to healthy foods to support their growth, development and academic success,” said School Nutrition Association Public Policy and Legislation Committee Chair Jessica Gould, RD, SNS. “During the pandemic, we witnessed the adaptability of these programs as school nutrition professionals nationwide pivoted to provide grab-and-go meals for curbside pick-up and expand services for families in need. With research showing school meals are the healthiest meals children are eating, these programs should be a cornerstone in efforts to improve food access for America’s families.”
“Egg farmers have been donating their time and resources for years to combat hunger. We commend the White House for organizing the upcoming nutrition conference, and Congress for funding it. We must work together to end hunger in America,” said Chad Gregory, President and CEO of United Egg Producers.
Also sharing stories and potential solutions at the listening session were American Academy of Pediatrics, American Society for Nutrition, Feeding America, Food Research and Action Center, and International Fresh Produce Association.
Today’s event is part of the broader effort to provide input to the White House as it crafts its strategy to end hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030, which the White House has said it plans to release at the September conference.
NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses the planned White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health later this year, the first major White House conference on nutrition in more than 50 years. Bjerga discusses the changes in U.S. nutrition and nutrition policy during that time, and how keeping dairy’s place in diets prominent is critical toward ensuring a healthy, hunger-free future for the United States, on WEKZ radio.
Statement from NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern on the confirmation of Dr. Robert Califf as FDA Commissioner:
“We congratulate Dr. Robert Califf on his confirmation as FDA Commissioner. We are cheering for his success at a particularly challenging time, given the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the urgent need to address the opioids crisis and other public health issues. We are heartened that, in addition to these concerns, he has also cited addressing the proliferation of plant-based products mislabeled as dairy a ‘priority’ issue under his leadership.
“Nutritional confusion over the products is real, with meaningful public health implications, and the Biden Administration has promised guidance by mid-year. We look forward to working with Dr. Califf as he resolves this long-standing, and growing, concern.”
Despite the disruptions of the pandemic era, consumer dairy sales keep climbing, even after the turbulence of 2020 is taken into account, NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga says in an interview with RFD-TV. Butter, cheese and yogurt sales are all over 2019 levels, and even though fluid milk declined, whole milk — in other words, milk that tastes like milk — increased.
NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern speaks at the organization’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, NV on Nov. 16.
The U.S. needs to follow international norms on the proper labeling of butter and dairy terms, NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga said in an interview with RFD Radio. A recent decision by the Codex Alimentarius reaffirms labeling integrity internationally, with the FDA planning guidance on similar matter next year. Bjerga also discusses NMPF’s Dairy Defined series of informational essays and podcasts.
Newly released federal dietary guidelines will benefit dairy, even as work remains to be done, said Miquela Hanselman, NMPF’s regulatory affairs manager, in a podcast released today.
“Dairy is in a good place,” Hanselman said. “Three servings of low-fat and non-fat dairy are continued to be recommended in the healthy U.S. and vegetarian diets, and dairy remained its own group. In addition, dairy was recognized as a source of under-consumed nutrients, which are also known as nutrients of public health concern.”
Hanselman also discusses the need to incorporate up-to-date research on dairy in fats in the next round of guidelines and talks about their impact on encouraging the next generation of milk-drinkers. To listen to the full discussion, click here. You can also find this and other NMPF podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and iHeart Radio. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.
