Dear John,

Mercy For Animals is dedicated to championing food justice and addressing systemic problems in our food systems. This includes an urgent matter that affects the health and well-being of countless students across the country.

Our latest op-ed, "Black Children Are Sick at School—and Not for the Reason You Think," explores the critical issue of dietary racism in public school meal programs.

Black and Indigenous students, along with other students of color, are overrepresented in the USDA's National School Lunch Program, which provides free and reduced-price lunches to students whose household incomes qualify.

Due to the dairy industry's outsize influence on the National School Lunch Program, each of the four billion meals served in U.S. public schools every year must—except in rare cases—include cows' milk to receive federal reimbursement.

Students eligible for this program rely on foods offered at school to meet a substantial portion of their nutrient and calorie needs. This usually means lactose-intolerant children must either suffer digestive distress or not drink cows' milk—one of their few opportunities for nourishment.

Promoting cows' milk in schools at the exclusion of other options is a food-justice matter.

It embodies dietary racism—the white majority's assumption that their food choices affect Black people the same way.

It's one thing to say Black Lives Matter, but it's quite another to actually do something that benefits Black lives, Black health, and Black children.

Offering plant-based milk at school is a small way to create tremendous change for the better. We invite you to read the full op-ed here. Together, we can work toward a more equitable and inclusive school meal program.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to a just and compassionate food system.