This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we're talking with Krista Byler, the food service director at Union City Area School District in Pennsylvania whose whole milk study caught the attention of the dairy industry.

Byler's district had been offering fat free and 1% milks with student lunches, but thanks to a study conducted by the student council, Byler was aware much of the milk students bought ended up in the trash. On top of that, many students weren't buying milk at all.

"It was kind of a double-edged sword. We had students no longer taking milk and a lot of those who did choose it were not drinking it," Byler said.

It made her want to take action.

While still only offering fat free and 1% milk, Byler measured how much milk was being wasted. It came to about 3 gallons a day.

After two months, the school began offering whole milk, both unflavored and chocolate. Again, Byler studied how much milk was being drunk and how much was being wasted.

She found that when whole milk was available, the 3 gallons of milk being thrown out went down to 19 ounces — a 95% reduction in waste. Furthermore, the amount of milk students bought and consumed climbed 50% in that time.

Byler then surveyed the students on how they felt about the expanded offerings.

"Their overwhelming answer was we want a choice. We want what tastes good, what has a good mouthfeel, what is satisfying," said Byler. "It's not that we're asking for everyone to have whole milk. We're just asking to be able to offer a full variety so that they can choose."

Byler's findings captured the interest of the dairy industry, and earlier this year she spoke at a Senate Agriculture Committee meeting where she addressed her study and its findings.

Aside from milk, Byler is also passionate about providing nutritious and, just as important, tasty lunches for her students. Her district has won an HMI Award for innovation in school meal preparation, and much of the food her district serves is prepared from scratch.

"Our students are way more food savvy than we were when we went to school," said Byler. "It's a lot like putting a puzzle together to make sure the nutrition lines up with the menu mix, which also lines up with student wants and needs. So it's definitely an interesting process."

More Information

Read more about Krista Byler's study and testifying before lawmakers