Members of the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF) and IDFA staff called on key administration officials yesterday to discuss their concerns about declining milk consumption in America and its impact on nutrition. Starting at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and ending at the White House, the members made sure the administration was aware of current consumption trends, which show Americans, especially children, are falling short of federal milk intake guidelines.

The four members were Jeff Kaneb, executive vice president of HP Hood LLC and MIF chair; Gregg Tanner, CEO of Dean Foods Company and MIF vice chair; Jay Bryant, CEO of the Maryland and Virginia Producers Cooperative Association, Inc.; and Ed Mullins, executive vice president and CEO of Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc. They were joined by Dave Carlin, IDFA senior vice president of legislative affairs and economic policy; Ruth Saunders, IDFA vice president of policy and legislative affairs; and Tyson Redpath and Randy Russell of the Russell Group, a Washington, D.C. consulting firm.

(L to R) Jeff Kaneb, HP Hood LLC; Sam Kass, the administration's senior policy advisor for nutrition policy; Jay Bryant, Maryland and Virginia Producers Cooperative Association, Inc.; Gregg Tanner, Dean Foods Company; and Ed Mullins, Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc.

The group began the day at USDA to meet with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. They traveled in the afternoon to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, to meet with Sam Kass, the administration’s senior policy advisor for nutrition policy. Kass is also the executive director of Let’s Move, First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity.

For more information, contact Saunders at rsaunders@idfa.org.