Idaho Legislature Urges Federal Action On Sweeteners In School Meals

Last week, the Idaho Legislature passed House Joint Memorial 10, a resolution urging Congress and federal agencies to prohibit artificial sweeteners in federally funded school meal programs, and to prioritize real sugar in school nutrition standards.

"We're trying to do is just say that, here in Idaho, we think it's important that in a federally funded school meals program that we would use real sugar and not artificial sweeteners, which are essentially chemical additives,” said Samantha Parrott is the Executive Director of the Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association.  

Parrott says this idea started with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has asked state to lean on the federal government to make this sweetening change.  His hope is if enough states pass legislation, the feds will make a change.  So far, California and Louisiana have already passed similar bills.

Parrott noted while advocating for HJM10, some lawmakers said the effort was self-serving for the sugar industry.  She said that’s not the case.

“In Idaho, we are the number two producer of sugarbeets," Parrott said.  "We are talking about 500 farm families here in Idaho that grow sugarbeets. And they actually own their processor. So, the growers own Amalgamated Sugar Company. And so, all throughout the chain, it's our farmers that own it. This isn't about somebody getting rich. This is literally about our domestic sugar production. And artificial sweeteners, they're made in a lab, they're a chemical and they're produced in China. And so, this is about protecting and supporting a domestic industry. And also it's about real ingredients.”

HJM10 was sponsored in the House by Representative Jason Crane and carried in the Senate by President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon.

The Sugarbeet industry represents a roughly $1 billion economic impact on the state, supporting thousands of jobs in rural communities.

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