United State Senator Kirstin Gillibrand and Congressman Richard Hanna visited Chobani offices Thursday in Norwich to show support for the reclassification of Greek yogurt under USDA nutrition guidelines.

Greek yogurt is currently classified the same as regular yogurt despite the fact it contains three times the protein and contains twice the protein.

Gillibrand and Hanna want Greek yogurt to be part of the national school lunch program.

“We are urging the USDA to make Greek yogurt a protein source for the schools’ breakfast and lunch program,” Gillibrand said. “One million students would eat Greek yogurt daily in this program and save our school system money while purchasing wholesome meals.”

Hanna said farms are New York’s largest asset and the state’s dairy farmers are now rebounding from difficult economic times thanks to the yogurt industry.

Both Hanna and Gillibrand are working to keep companies like Chobani, which relies heavily on New York state dairy farmers, in the state to help them grow the farms that serve them.

“As a guy who was raised as a dairy farmer in Herkimer, New York, and who knows the one asset in this state that they can’t take away from us is our land,” Hanna said. “The other asset is farmers who want to farm and their children who want to stay here and grow their farms. 80 percent of the economy is somehow related back to agriculture.”

 

 

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