Don’t get a cow, Eric! Eliza Stefanik opposes Mayor Adams and wants chocolate milk to be offered in all schools

This introduces a whole new gap in the school choice debate.

Upstate New York Rep. Elise Stefanik is proposing federal legislation that would require all schools to offer chocolate or other flavored milk in addition to regular milk — in a not-so-subtle prick to health fanatic Mayor Eric Adams, who believes sugar … an overloaded dairy product is bad for children.

“Let our New York students drink chocolate milk!” the brash Stefanik, Republican No. 4 in the House of Representatives, told The Post.

“Our dairy farmers in upstate New York and the Northern Country work hard to produce nutritious milk for our communities,” she said.

“Any attempt by Mayor Adams to ban chocolate milk and replace it with vegan juice is completely futile and will be opposed by parents, families, children and New Yorkers.”

Republicans now control the House of Representatives, giving Stefanik a better chance of passing the bill than when she first introduced it last year. She is now one of the most influential leaders in Congress, serving as chair of the Republican Conference of the House of Representatives.

Stefanik’s bill, the School Milk Choice Protection Act of 2023, is sponsored by Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-R.P.), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee that will consider the issue.

The measure simply states that schools must “offer flavored and unflavored liquid milk to students” and “may” offer lactose-free milk to students.

Chocolate milk advocates are concerned that Adams will become the new babysitter in the Big Apple — like former mayor Mike Bloomberg, who was thwarted in court over his attempt to ban the sale of large amounts of sugary drinks, managed to ban trans fats from restaurants and quit smoking. in bars, restaurants and other public places.

Adams, a former Brooklyn borough president who switched to a predominantly vegan diet after being diagnosed with diabetes and had already ordered plant-based meals in schools, posted a “Do the Math” video in 2019 in support of the proposal by the city’s Department of Education refuses chocolate milk due to its sugar content.

In a video presentation, the then district president showed how much sugar is in a large glass of chocolate milk. The video states that one cup of the sugary drink contains 3 to 4 teaspoons of added sugar.

“Instead of giving our kids drinks that give them lifelong health problems, we should encourage them to drink more water,” Adams said in the video.

“Chocolate milk is loaded with extra sugar and causes type 2 diabetes, obesity and other health problems,” Adams also said last year.

But when asked about Stefanyk’s chocolate milk bill, a spokesman for the mayor said Thursday: “We are committed to ensuring schools have healthy options for students and will continue to engage all stakeholders in this conversation.”

Since last year, there has been an exchange of views between Stefanik and chocolate milk critic Adams.

Stefanik also joined a bipartisan group of members of the House of Representatives who sent a letter to Adams calling for an end to the ban on flavored milk in New York City schools. Other signers included then-Hudson Valley Rep. Antonio Delgado, who is now lieutenant governor, and Queens Congresswoman Grace Maine, both Democrats.

In response, Adams announced a temporary delay last April in his decision to ban chocolate milk in schools. But the mayor also said he would instruct school principals to decide on the availability of chocolate milk.

“At the discretion of the school principal, individual schools may remove flavored milk from their menus as long as they continue to offer milk at every meal in accordance with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirements,” his letter said.

He also said he supports amending the National School Lunch Act to create a pilot school food authority grant program to provide “healthy and climate-friendly plant-based food and milk to students.”

More than two-thirds of the milk served in schools is flavored, according to Stefanik’s International Dairy Association, an important way for students to get the calcium, protein and other dairy nutrients they need for healthy growth and development.

According to the Federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans, children do not get enough calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, which are also found in milk.

The congresswoman cited research showing that when flavored milk is removed from elementary schools, children drink 35 percent less milk.