Ann Cooper is no stranger to controversy: the meat and dairy industry both dislike her, and in a very public way. She said the beef industry has taken out ads against her, and she has an ongoing feud with the dairy industry over chocolate milk because of its high sugar content.
She said recently, "Kids don't need milk—kids need calcium. So we should be talking about calcium, not milk. If kids have a balanced meal, they're going to get calcium in other ways."
But it's not just the industry that fights her on this: "I have parents tell me, my kids will only drink chocolate milk. And well, so they can drink water—we're not going to have Rickets in America because kids aren't getting enough calcium because they're not drinking chocolate milk in school. Parents don't serve chocolate milk at home, so this idea that they should get chocolate milk in school doesn't really make sense."
She says that the beef, dairy, and other industries with strong lobbies are on the wrong side of these issues, and eventually the public will catch up. In the meantime, she has a few words for what parents can do to improve what their kids are eating, both in school and out.
