I believe these Social Justice Warrior Progressive types are truly trying to strip all the joys of childhood out of being a kid. One of those is a big, cold glass of milk. The WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) supplemental food program has helped do that for decades for lower-income families, making sure that pregnant women, infants, and small children have access to the nutritional building blocks for strong bones and bodies.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk.

That’s also why, even when I was a teenager working in a local, rural grocery store, the WIC vouchers of the late 70s were very tightly controlled as far as what you could buy with them. The quantities and products were specific, and nutritious, period. Entirely based on the age of the participants and their specific nutritional needs, it was completely different from – and in addition to – the Food Stamp program of the time (FS purchases then were also much more controlled than the free-for-all EBT card people receive now.).

To this administration and the progressive/oppressive lunatics working in it, everything we held fast and dear as “good” is, by definition, now “bad.” To include milk and dairy products for little ones’ growing bodies.

Can’t have too much of a good thing, you know.

Biden admin plans to reduce milk allowance for families in WIC program, substitute soy-based products https://t.co/xAKSyFNq6Y

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) March 10, 2023

What a crock of Science-Based™ cow farts.

The Biden administration recently proposed a rule for the United States Department of Agriculture that could reduce the amount of milk available to families participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. To supplement the reduction to the milk allowance, the administration proposed including more soy-based products.

…The USDA reported that the proposed updates to the WIC program are “science-based” revisions from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine that “best meet [participants’] nutritional needs and foster healthy growth and development.”

“USDA is committed to advancing maternal and child health through WIC, helping mothers, babies and young kids thrive,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stated in November. “These proposed changes will strengthen WIC – already an incredibly powerful program – by ensuring it provides foods that reflect the latest nutrition science to support healthy eating and bright futures.”

Considering their “latest nutrition science” has Frosted Mini Wheats healthier than eggs? I’ll take my chances with tried and true. But that’s because I can (so far) – I’m not at the mercy of a government voucher to be able to get milk or cheese for the kiddos.

I mean, some of the proposed changes are just nuts. Allow reduced-fat yogurt for children under the age of 1? Whole dairies like milk and yogurt are only 3% fat, to begin with! Kids need some of that good fat for energy burning.

And reducing the sugars allowed in yogurts comes with its own set of problems, considering how that’s accomplished and these scientifically minded types should know it. Cutting back on real sugars means artificial “sugars” are substituted. Research is finding that, after decades of artificial sweeteners and exploding obesity rates in spite of them, maybe the effect has been the exact opposite of what was intended.

Scientists have also uncovered surprising effects of artificial sweeteners on our brains and appetites.

Sweet taste receptors on your tongue tell your brain that you’re eating something sweet. This sends a signal to your brain and your body that an influx of calories is coming.

But because these sweeteners are more potent than normal sugar with few or none of the calories, they can confuse your brain and your taste receptors.

One potential consequence of this, studies have found, is that you might develop stronger sugar cravings and end up eating more sugar and sweetened foods.

In a clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open, researchers found that drinking beverages that contained sucralose increased food cravings in women and people with obesity and led women to eat larger amounts of food at their next meals.

Just what we need, when we already have a problem with an abundance of pudgy kids who don’t get any exercise anymore and eat crap all day – actually creating their sweetness-addiction from infancy.

No, dang it.

At least some folks in Congress are pushing back already.

New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik along with nearly 30 other congressional representatives on Wednesday slammed the Biden administration’s proposal to reduce the amount of milk given out as part of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), arguing that it will “exacerbate the crisis families are already facing with skyrocketing prices at the grocery store.”

…”These substantial reductions in the amount of milk parents can buy for their children will exacerbate the crisis families are already facing with skyrocketing prices at the grocery store,” the representatives wrote.

The Department of Agriculture announced the changes on November 22, stating that they would “reduce the amount of milk provided in all child, pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding participant food packages” and add “soy-based” yogurts and cheeses as “substitutions for milk.”

Dairy products are three of the top five redeemed WIC items. I signed a letter led by @RepStefanik and @RepJoshHarder to the @USDA to reject a proposed rule that would reduce the monthly milk allowance, a move that would limit American families’ access to critical nutrients. 🥛 pic.twitter.com/zltMU75ELf

— Rep. Don Bacon 🇺🇸 (@RepDonBacon) March 8, 2023

Boy – she nails the lot of them perfectly.

Eat bugs and drink soy.
More cruelty & terrible health & nutrition policy from the Biden Administration https://t.co/Lxph6Ufres

— Rachel Campos-Duffy (@RCamposDuffy) March 10, 2023

I know the dairy community has to be seething – it’s like they’re under attack 24/7.

I’m not sure what Congress can do as far as throwing a wrench in these plans, which affect some 6 million WIC participants, but I sure hope they get on it.