With nonstop news, much of it bad, coming at you, you might have missed something good — Federal Bill S-222, also known as the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. Buried in the law’s language is the stipulation that public schools must provide plant-based dairy options for students as part of the National School Lunch Program. Most amazing, Federal Bill 2-222, signed into law early this year, had bipartisan support.
Getting political parties to agree on anything these days seems like it takes a force of nature. It had one — Olympic medalist, Dotsie Bausch, one of the plant-powered athletes profiled in the documentary “The Game-Changers,” says moving to plant-based dairy not only helped her beat physical and mental health challenges — big ones — it drove her to peak performance.
Bausch wants everyone to be able to unleash the power of plant-based. That’s why she founded the nonprofit Switch4Good, championing dairy-free choices. It’s also why she spent years lobbying Congress to make the dairy-free option clause in Federal Bill S-222 a reality. No surprise, the dairy industry wasn’t too keen on that.
“We knew we were going to have to be the ones to tell schools about this new law,” says Bausch. So she and her team launched The Justice Tour, with fellow athletes and experts going out to schools across the country to let kids know about this new law and how it affects them. More than that, Bausch wants students to realize they have a voice, they have a choice.
Dairy is a major allergen — something else the dairy industry doesn’t advertise — and a good chunk the world’s population is lactose-intolerant. That includes Bausch and maybe you, too. Maybe you don’t even realize dairy’s the reason you or your child often feel cruddy. It’d be a good thing to know. Dairy allergies can impact academic as well as athletic performance. Choosing plant-based dairy at school — and at home — means kids can live better (cows can live longer, too).
Bringing The Justice Tour from school to school has been a Herculean effort, Bausch admits. Wrangling the government to pass a law mandating plant-based dairy options in public schools couldn’t have been a breeze either. But going from feeling bad to feeling great can be as easy as switching to vegan dairy options. In terms of wellness, though, it can be a game changer.
Wanna bring plant-based power to your school? The Justice Tour wants to deliver.
Contact Switch4Good’s Tiffany Bruno tiffany@switch4good.org
Oat milk, vegan butter and vegan cheese — three plant-based greats — make for a mighty vegan mac and cheese.
Rich and creamy plant-based yogurt is the secret ingredient in many of my recipes these days, including this personal summer favorite, refreshing, bright borani esfanaj.
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