IDFA board member Miriam Erickson Brown will deliver tomorrow the industry's message on nutrition in schools at a U.S. Senate hearing that will consider reforming current school food standards. Working with IDFA and the National Milk Producers Federation, Brown developed her testimony around the need to keep lowfat and fat-free nutrient-rich foods, like milk and dairy products, in schools. She also will urge Congress to establish consistent nutrition standards for all foods and beverages sold or provided in schools.

Invited to speak by the Senate Agriculture Committee and its chairman, Tom Harkin (D-IA), IDFA and NMPF agreed that Erickson Brown, president and CEO of Anderson Erickson Dairy Company in Des Moines, Iowa, would be an ideal representative. She is a strong proponent of maintaining dairy's place in schools.

Erickson Brown submitted testimony to the Senate committee last fall on ways to improve child nutrition and marketing foods to kids. She called on congressional leaders to take a hard look at the fierce marketing of competing beverages and urged them to work together with the dairy industry and the public health community to improve the marketing of healthy products like milk to children.

Other invited speakers for tomorrow's hearing, titled "Beyond Federal School Meal Programs: Reforming Nutrition for Kids in Schools," will include representatives from Mars Snackfood, U.S.; the North Dakota Dietetic Association; the American Beverage Association; the National Parent Teacher Association, the National School Boards Association, and the New York State Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Alliance.

Highlights of Erickson Brown's testimony will be included in next week's issue of News Update. For more information, contact Ruth Saunders, IDFA senior director of policy and legislative affairs, at rsaunders@idfa.org or (202) 220-3553.