Contact: Jamie Evan Bichelman
Email: gro.doog4hctiws@beimaj
Vegan Olympic medalist Dotsie Bausch and animal welfare veteran Wayne Pacelle successfully collaborated with bipartisan policymakers on a historic bill that will provide free access to non-dairy milk to public school children in the school lunch line.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, President Donald Trump signed a historic piece of legislation championed by Switch4Good founder and vegan Olympic medalist Dotsie Bausch, as well as Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy President Wayne Pacelle, into law. The legislation, which passed unanimously in both the Senate and the House at the end of 2025, requires public schools to offer a variety of plant-based milk options to students in the lunch line for the first time in the nearly 80-year history of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), effectively ending the “cow’s milk mandate.”
The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act (H.R.649 / S.222), which includes provisions from the FISCAL Act (H.R.2539 / S.1236) championed by Bausch and Pacelle, is a groundbreaking law that will begin to chip away at the $400 million in taxpayer money wasted each year on unopened and discarded dairy milk cartons given to public school students at lunchtime as part of the NSLP.
“Today marks a powerful victory for children, families, and the future of school nutrition in America,” Dotsie Bausch, the founder and executive director of Switch4Good, said. “With the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act now signed into law, students across the country will finally have access to plant-based milk in the school lunch line without the need for a doctor’s note, which is a simple change with life-changing impact. As an Olympic athlete, I know that what we fuel with matters, and this law affirms that every child deserves options that support their health, values, and dignity. This is progress in action and proof that when we put kids first, everyone wins.”
Bausch and Pacelle garnered the support of more than 200 racial and dietary justice advocates and groups to build momentum for the FISCAL Act, which eventually merged with the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act and passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate.
Under the current guidelines of the NSLP, cow’s milk was mandatorily given to public school children, despite the fact that an estimated 15 million kids participating in the NSLP are lactose intolerant. Now that the bill has been signed into law, the cow’s milk mandate has been effectively eliminated in the NSLP, thereby offering lactose-intolerant kids a healthy and suitable alternative to cow’s milk, supporting all kids’ freedom of choice.
“For eight decades, the dairy industry had a monopoly on nutritious fluid beverages in the National School Lunch Program,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “Today, that policy ends, and kids can choose plant-based milks, just as they do in the marketplace. It’s especially important because millions of kids are lactose intolerant and cannot safely digest milk. The long-standing milk mandate was a prescription for massive food waste in the school lunch program.”
Groundbreaking food system advocacy led to dietary guidelines update, FISCAL predecessor
The predecessor to the FISCAL Act, the Addressing Digestive Distress in Stomachs of Our Youth Act (ADD SOY Act) was introduced in the 118th Congress (2023-2024), which both built upon years of advocacy by Bausch and Pacelle in Washington, D.C., and set the stage for the success that its successor, the FISCAL Act, enjoyed.
“What makes this moment so exciting is its staying power. This law stands on its own and will not be swayed by shifts in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans; it guarantees that children have access to dairy-free options at school, period,” Bausch said. “That certainty matters. It means families can count on inclusive, compassionate choices at lunchtime, and kids can fuel their bodies in ways that align with their health needs and values. This is a win we can celebrate today and trust for the future.”
Recognized in March 2025 by ProVeg International as the definitive leader “responsible for plant-forward food policy changes in the U.S. Dietary Guidelines,” Bausch testified in Washington, D.C., on several occasions throughout 2020 and catalyzed a record-setting number of followers to call on the USDA to revise the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Bausch’s efforts resulted in soy milk as a recommended source of nutrients in the current version of the guidelines.
Additionally, Bausch successfully advocated for plentiful plant-based updates to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (better known as the WIC program), resulting in numerous non-dairy options for WIC recipients for the first time in the program’s half-century of existence.
To learn more about Bausch and Switch4Good’s efforts to revolutionize the American food system, or to schedule an interview with Dotsie Bausch and Wayne Pacelle, contact gro.doog4hctiws@beimaj.
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About Switch4Good
Switch4Good is an evidence-based nonprofit that advocates for a dairy-free world and plant-based living. Founded in 2018 by Olympic medalist Dotsie Bausch, Switch4Good’s mission is to combat the distortion and disrupt the misinformation fed to us by the dairy industry. Switch4Good partnered with health experts, athletes, and the International Olympic Committee to write the first playbook for plant-based athletes titled “Let the Plant-based Games Begin.” Switch4Good’s new Kids and Dairy Symptoms program (KiDS) is purposed with educating doctors, dietitians, and parents about the harm drinking cow’s milk does to kids. For more information, please visit www.switch4good.org.
About Animal Wellness Action
Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) whose mission is to help animals by promoting laws and regulations at federal, state and local levels that forbid cruelty to all animals. The group also works to enforce existing anti-cruelty and wildlife protection laws. Animal Wellness Action believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @AWAction_News
About The Center for a Humane Economy
The Center for a Humane Economy is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) whose mission is to help animals by helping forge a more humane economic order. The first organization of its kind in the animal protection movement, the Center encourages businesses to honor their social responsibilities in a culture where consumers, investors, and other key stakeholders abhor cruelty and the degradation of the environment and embrace innovation as a means of eliminating both. The Center believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @TheHumaneCenter