Assemblyman Chris Tague (R,C,I-Schoharie), who serves as the ranking Minority member of the Assembly Minority Committee on Agriculture, is slamming a proposal by New York City Mayor Eric Adams that would come with drastic consequences for dairy farmers throughout New York state. Mayor Adams, who himself personally consumes a plant-based vegan diet, is seeking to ban chocolate milk from New York City cafeterias as he pushes forward other proposals to reduce the amount of meat and dairy products consumed by the city’s schoolchildren.

For years chocolate milk has been viewed as a means of encouraging children to consume milk and get the calcium, vitamin D, and potassium they need for healthy growth, but Adams has insisted that added sugars within chocolate milk will put them at risk of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes.

Remaining defiant in the face of bipartisan opposition to his proposal among New York’s federal representatives, Adams has stood firm in demanding the implementation of his chocolate milk ban. The policy would deprive New York’s dairy farms, many of which have struggled to remain viable over the years, of a key source of revenue from one of their largest customers—the NYC school district.It will also deprive students of a tasty way of getting nutrients vital to their development.

“Cold, refreshing chocolate milk with a school lunch is a small, timeless joy that has carried students through the challenges of academia for decades,” said Tague. “The thought of taking this small treat from our children, along with significant revenue from our dairy farmers, is incredibly callous and reeks of nanny-statism. Let’s leave our kids’ lunches alone and spare our dairy farmers from yet another threat to their livelihoods. The reduced farm laborer overtime threshold being rammed through the regulatory process by your Majority colleagues will already make it hard enough for them to survive.”